Comparing Daniel Callahan's 'Aging And The Ends Of Medicine'

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Daniel Callahan’s position on age-based rationing is more sound in comparison to James Childress’s position. Within the article Ensuring Care, Respect, and Fairness for the Elderly by James Childress, he stresses the importance of reverence and equality to the elderly when it comes down to dealing with healthcare. This led to the illustrated conclusion that allocating healthcare in relation to age is unjust and not respectful (Childress, p.27-28). Childress gave the example of using a study about how twenty-five physicians were given details about forty patients and had to select thirty of them to treat. After picking, one of the most shocking results was that twelve of the twenty-five physicians would have rejected to treat a sixty-eight …show more content…

Callahan’s point is that there is all this money being spent on healthcare especially for the elderly to prolong their life instead of giving them a life with more value. He wants to actually have real meaning behind the treatment and show that there is positive progression within the patient’s life, instead of having treatment and living a life that still has negative progression (prolonged life with suffering) (Callahan, p.587-589). “A longer life does not guarantee a better life”, individuals must be able to comprehend that life doesn’t last forever (Callahan, p.590). We as humans must live every moment we can through the early phases of life, then when the time comes where it’s harder to enjoy the new everyday interactions, that’s when healthcare comes into place. The healthcare system will be able to boost the elderly phase so they can live whatever moment left without sorrow. Callahan wants us to understand a new perspective of old age; we must know the meaning of the human life cycle and have limits when spending money in addition to programs to prolong life with no value (Callahan, p.592). Extended life shouldn’t be the worry, the worry should be the quality of the elderly person’s life and how one can make it better now and as painless as possible. The goal that should be in mind is to give meaning to elderly life by making it a “decent and honorable time” (Callahan,