The inhumanity of fairness: rationing resources for reconstructive breast surgery

The Dr. William Logie Medical Ethics Essay Contest is open to undergraduate medical students studying at Canadian universities. The contest, named in honour of Canada's first medical graduate, is sponsored by CMAJ. In the following essay, which won second price in the 1994 competition, Dr. Agnes Wong examines how the state of Oregon reviewed the services it would insure under Medicaid, and why it determined that reconstructive breast surgery following mastectomy would not qualify.