SEVPRI Philosophy of Priority Setting Tuesday

Abstract: Some authors have argued that certain concerns should play the role of tiebreakers: when there are no other relevant differences between groups or individual patients, the tiebreaking factor can become relevant. We argue that this is problematic for at least two reasons: (1) if the factor is important enough to settle ties, why is it not relevant in other circumstances? And (2) if the value of the is small enough to only make a difference in ties, how can it overcome the competing reasons for preferring a lottery? Furthermore, we discuss different types of tie, and what these types say about the value of the tiebreaker.