Ethical Questions about Platelet Transfusions at the End of Life

John P Sherbeck1, Renee D Boss2

  • 1Anatomic and clinical pathology resident at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

AMA Journal of Ethics
|August 24, 2016
PubMed

This case of platelet transfusion in palliative care illustrates a common dilemma in transfusion medicine: approval of the use of a scarce, yet potentially life-saving, resource. As in this case, these decisions often involve seriously ill patients with acute needs and evolving goals of care. The use of resources to treat the patient at hand must be balanced against maintaining adequate resources to treat future patients. In this setting, the ethical principles of beneficence and social justice are in conflict.

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