Abstract
This paper critically engages ethical issues in the allocation of novel, and potentially costly, health care resources to patients with disorders of consciousness. First, we review potential benefits of novel health care resources for patients and their families and outline preliminary considerations to address concerns about cost. We then address two problems regarding the allocation of health care resources to patients with disorders of consciousness: (1) the problem of uncertain moral status; and (2) the problem of accurately measuring the welfare burdens these resources would relieve. We conclude by suggesting that opportunity-based frameworks might complement standard approaches for justifying resources allocation to patients with disorders of consciousness.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank Professors Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Joseph Fins, and Govind Persad for helpful discussion and comments on the ideas contained in this paper.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.