When it's for the greater good, or by the winners, we conveniently omit it from history.
When it's for the greater evil, or by the losers, we publicize it as a cautionary tale of moral hubris.
Example 1: Vaccines
This is an interesting example because the winners and losers seem to be proportionately spread across almost all of society (except anti-Vaxxers who benefit from herd immunity but don't sacrifice with the minute risk of vaccines). See also: https://www.hrsa.gov/vaccine-compensation/index.html
Example 2: War on Crime / Safety
Another example would be the war on crime. Liberties and lives are sacrificed in the name of safety for others. Unfortunately, the liberty/lives sacrificed fall disproportionately into one group, and those protected fall disproportionately into a different group group. If you look at the 2nd order effects (impoverishment, single-parent households, effects on education and future) lots more lives are lost, again in a subset of society.
> Imho, that's a grave, serious decision, but not one to which the morally absolute is "zero, always."
I think that what we've learned throughout human history is that no one should be trusted and given the power to make such decisions. It has invariably led to disasters. The very idea that someone can decide to put someone else's life in danger for potential future advances gives too many perverse incentives - chief of which, rationalization that "more people will be saved" even as the experiment crashes and burns.