Strong Medicine

• Prologue; Could an economist take the Hippocratic oath?; May we presume your consent to risk?; Consent and the pricing of life; The costs of lifesaving: What if smoking saves money?; Measuring quality of life; The innocence of birth; The poor and the puzzle of equality; Real competition; Malpractice and the costs of complaint; Raising transplants; The duty to die cheaply; References; Index

"I consider Menzel's discussion to be one of the most creative, imaginative, original pieces of philosophy I have seen. He knows the economic and medical literature, gets to the critical issues in fresh and exiting ways, and invariably upsets conventional wisdom in a carefully reasoned manner." --Robert M. Veatch, Georgetown University"Menzel's book is a major contribution to one of the most theoretically complex and practically urgent problems of our time: how can we ration health care ethically? Strong Medicine is accessible to a broad audience, yet analytically incisive and morally sensible." --Allen Buchanan, Professor of Philosophy, University of Arizona"This is an important and challenging work. Highly recommended for upper division and graduate collections." --Choice"Strong Medicine is a challenging and controversial book . . . . This is an important and timely book on a pressing issue in health policy. [This book] should be read by everyone concerned about the ethical implications of health-care rationing. Throughout the book Menzel displays a sophisticated understanding of economics, rigor in argumentation, and the courage to take positions that are certain to be unpopular . . . . Menzel has taken astraightforward and appealing value and has worked out its implications across a wide range of very difficult problems. Health care professionals, ethicists, and economics will learn a great deal from Strong Medicine. It deserves to be read and debated." --Bioethics Books"A stimulating and provocative volume, clearly written, well reasoned, and a definite contribution to the moral literature on justice and health-care rationing." --Medical Humanities Review"A good book, strong on the application of the theory to rationing problems in health care. . . .Essential reading to those interested both in the practice of health care, and more broadly, that of applied ethics as a whole." --Bioethics"[Menzel's] approach is critical and interesting." --Doctor-Patient Studies