The medical community is part of our health crisis. The following ethical requirement for doctors contributes to the problem “Doctors have a duty to prescribe the most effective drug, even if it costs more.”.
The doctor has an obligation to consider and discuss costs with the patient but not to make the decisions about prescriptions unilaterally (my opinion).
For example if Pill A is 87% effective but costs $50 per pill and Pill B is 86% effective but costs $10 per pill guess which one I am going to purchase. According to the ethical requirement the doctor always chooses the more effective prescription no matter the cost.
Costs matter to me and when the patient is not making the decisions based on their individual trade offs we will spend far more than we should.
If your insurance plan or the government is footing the bill most folks will pick the more expensive option. If you are paying the bills yourself you will usually pick the pill behind door 2.
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