the accountability for reasonableness (afr) concept has been developed and discussed for over two decades. its interpretation has been studied in several ways partly guided by the specific settings and the researchers involved. this has again influenced the development of the concept, but not led to universal application. the potential use in health technology assessments (htas) has recently be...

E very health system has to make decisions about how to use limited resources to meet competing claims about diverse health needs. In all systems, national priority setting, including budgeting, generally imposes constraints on other levels of decision-making be it in states or provinces, districts or cities, or local health authorities, hospitals, or health insurance plans. Decisions at any of...

Currently, research ethics committees (RECs) in the UK meet behind closed doors-their workings and most of the content of their decisions are unavailable to the general public. There is a significant tension between this current practice and a broader societal presumption of openness. As a form of public institution, the REC system exists to oversee research from the perspective of society gene...

The concepts of tolerability and reasonableness are at the core of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) system of radiological protection. Tolerability allows the definition of boundaries for implementing ICRP principles, while reasonableness contributes to decisions regarding adequate levels of protection, taking into account the prevailing circumstances. In the 1970s...

Abstract This short essay aims at discussing the opposition between two different views on limits in legal interpretations: I will call them (i) “no-limits option” and (ii) “pro-limits option”. As for (i), it is based a widely diffused understanding of individual freedom: that an unceasing breaking all limits. idea involves nowadays not only number once accepted moral limits, nor material or so...

BACKGROUND Because the demand for health services outstrips the available resources, priority setting is one of the most difficult issues faced by health policy makers, particularly those in developing countries. However, there is lack of literature that describes and evaluates priority setting in these contexts. The objective of this paper is to describe priority setting in a teaching hospital...

Governments can be accountable for improving the fairness of their priority setting through enhanced transparency and stakeholder engagement. A case analysis is conducted of priority setting in a government health care context in Ontario, Canada, assessing how implementation of hospital accountability agreements meets the conditions of a leading international ethical framework for priority sett...