Social decisions associated with rationing are not yet acceptable

doi:10.1136/bmj.312.7046.1605a

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Julian Tudor Hart

Professor International Section, Department of Primary Health Care, Royal Free Hospital Medical School, London NW3 2QU

EDITOR,—The BMJ is a scientific journal, testing practice against theory and theory against practice and thus changing both in a verifiable progress towards the solution of human problems. These problems include two questions: how much should we spend on health care and what should we spend it on?

The usual scientific approach to any question is first to observe and measure reality, in dimensions that seem most likely from past experience …