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The Gift of Blood.
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- Author(s): Titmuss, Richard
- Source:
Society. Jan/Feb98, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p88-97. 10p.
- Additional Information
- Subject Terms:
- Abstract:
This article discusses the social, economic, and ethical consequences of scientific and technical developments in blood transfusion. American and British writers are making an economic case against a monopoly of altruism in blood and other human tissues. They wish to set people free from the conscience of obligation. Although their arguments are couched in the language of price elasticity and profit maximization, they have far-reaching implications for human values and all social service institutions. They legitimate, for instance, the great increase since 1967 in the number of commercial hospitals in the United States. The moral issues that are raised extend far beyond theories of pricing and operations of the marketplace. Moreover, they involve the foundations of professional freedom in medical care and other service relationships with people, the concept of the hospital and the university as non-profit-making institutions and the legal doctrine in the United States of charitable immunity.
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