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In a time of escalating efforts to contain health care costs, Daniel Callahan, director of The Hastings Center and one of the nation's foremost medical ethicists, proposes a new approach. His articulate and forceful book argues that an arbitrary age standard (say 75 or 80) should be set, beyond which entitlements for medical care would be denied. The argument goes as follows.
First, the recent success of medical technology in curing illness has created unprecedented public expectations for a long and healthy life for all. From this has arisen the belief that the inevitable physical decline of old age can
Setting Limits: Medical Goals in an Aging Society.. Ann Intern Med. 1988;108:648–649. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-108-4-648_3
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Published: Ann Intern Med. 1988;108(4):648-649.
DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-108-4-648_3