New and often expensive treatments are continually emerging, and patients sometimes gain access to these treatments before official recommendation are made about whether the healthcare system should offer them. When it turns out that a treatment is not cost-effective, several ethical challenges arise:
1. Should we withdraw the treatment from patients who have already received it?
2. Should we withhold the treatment from new patients who may need it?
3. Is it ethically justifiable to treat new patients and existing patients differently, or should the healthcare systems handle both groups in the same way by withdrawing and withhold treatments equally?
In my thesis, I combine interview studies with psychological experiments to investigate attitudes of physicians-, patient organization representatives-, and other stakeholders toward this dilemma. I examine factors influencing these attitudes, their robust attitudes are, and whether they can be manipulated. My aim is to use these insights to develop ethically sound recommendations adapted to stable traits of human psychology. Additionally, I explore people’s attitudes towards ethical principles in healthcare during crises, as well as their robustness.
If you find this topic interesting or would like to know more, please feel free to reach out to me!
