Showing papers by "George J. Annas published in 1978"

ALLOCATION OF ARTIFICIAL HEARTS IN THE YEAR 2002: : Minerva v. National Health Agency.

Abstract: The rapid growth of medical technology gives rise to difficult dilemmas concerning the appropriateness of, and access to, new equipment and devices capable of maintaining life or improving its quality. Such a dilemma already exists, for example, with regard to kidney dialysis machines. In 1972, Congress amended the Social Security Act to make such machines available under Medicare to all who needed them. But almost immediately the overwhelming cost of such equipment—in the billions of dollars—made the original appropriations totally inadequate, and prompted serious questions of whether access to kidney dialysis should be made available at public expense—and, if so, to whom. This Comment takes the reader 25 years into the future through the medium of a hypothetical U.S. Supreme Court decision** regarding a federal health agency's regulations that establish a system for allocating artificial hearts to those whose lives can be lengthened by implantation. The author assumes that a national health insurance system has been enacted and implemented, that all physicians are employees of the federal government, and that the enabling legislation has placed broad powers in the hands of the federal government to regulate the development and allocation of scarce and expensive medical resources. The opinions of the various Supreme Court Justices reflect a broad range of legal and ethical viewpoints, and—in keeping with the difficult, indeed frightening, life-or-death issues involved—are often intensely personal in nature.

Beyond the Good Samaritan: should doctors be required to provide essential services?

Abstract: raditionally in American medicine the doctor-patient relationship has been viewed as purely voluntary. The courts have generally upheld the tradition that a physician has no obligation to accept everyone who seeks his services, and the American Medical Association has stated it as an ethical precept: "A physician may choose whom he will serve." While it may have been well-suited to a frontier society, the voluntary concept has serious drawbacks today. Recognizing this problem, some courts have expanded the concept of "acceptance" of a patient, both in the doctor's office and in the hospital. Likewise, there is some recent recognition that physicians are more than free-lance artists who can

Life Forms: The Law and the Profits

Abstract: W hile the purposeful creation of new life forms captures the public's imagination, the negligent destruction of existing forms continues steadily. A recent study of the Worldwatch Institute predicts that by the year 2000, thousands of unique life forms may be destroyed by pollution, destruction of natural habitats, excessive hunting, and population growth. The study notes that animals are becoming extinct at an alarming and accelerating rate. In prehistoric times a species became extinct about every 10,000 years. By 1600 the rate was one every 1,000 years; in 1978 it is one or more annually. The law's role in this process has usually been indirect and not carefully reasoned. Two recent judicial decisions, however, give the United States Congress an opportunity to consider the issue anew. Both cases involve the interpretation of statutes passed by Congress, and neither rests on constitutional issues. Thus, if Congress is not satisfied with the way the courts have decided these cases, it can amend the laws in question to nullify or alter the decisions. One case was recently decided by the United States Supreme Court, the other is pending before it.