Rationing health care in America : perceptions and principles of justice /

Churchill (social and administrative medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is coauthor of an earlier book on medical ethics (Professional Ethics and Primary Care Medicine written with Harmon L. Smith, 1986). In his current book he surveys the various philosophical systems that attempt to rationalize the present or ideal system of health-care distribution. The author ultimately concludes that a proportional and accessible system of preventive and primary care together with an efficient, utilitarian system of secondary and tertiary care would be the most just system. Although the arguments presented are quite sophisticated, the book itself is readable as a result of numerous examples and case studies. The bibliography is comprehensive on the topic of health-care resource distribution. This is an appropriate acquisition for an academic library specializing in graduate collections in philosophy, medicine, public health, public policy, and health administration.-M.D. Fottler, University of Alabama in Birmingham

``Is it just when some members of society receive the best health care anywhere in the world while others receive little or nothing?'' This is the question Churchill asks near the beginning of this cogent and closely argued attack on the contemporary American health care system. His answer: ``A health care system is no better than the least well-served of its members.'' A specialist in social medicine and religious studies, Churchill criticizes the ``ethical individualism'' he sees as the philosophic basis of American medical practice. He urges medical practitioners and legislators alike to reconsider what is important in medicine and how its practice affects our society. An eloquent and persuasive call for a more just system of medical careespecially significant now because of the AIDS threat. Jack Forman, Mesa Coll Lib., San Diego, Cal. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.