Uncertainty and the Shaping of Medical Decisions

While uncertainty can never be totally eliminated from clinical, physicians can at least come to terms with it. In interviews with physicians in a variety of clinical settings, three sources of affecting the allocation of medical resources were identified. uncertainty arises from inadequate scientific data. Personal arises from not knowing patients' wishes. Conceptual uncertainty from the problem of applying abstract criteria to concrete....While not denying the obvious benefits of medical science, we also note that medical uncertainty is linked to the very nature of rationality. It will not be eliminated by any degree of technological.