Re:IBM's Watson will be used to make decisions about cancer ...
by LordKano on Wednesday May 06, 2015 @03:43PM
(#9501317)
There's nothing magical about compassion.
Unless, of course, you are the one in need of compassion.
If it's all about metrics, it's easy to decide that a given treatment comes with an expenditure is too great if only 20% of the patients are saved.
That would lead to 100% of the patients who might benefit from the aforementioned treatment being lost. But look at the bright side, you saved a bunch of money.
Re:IBM's Watson will be used to make decisions about cancer ...
by xamuel on Wednesday May 06, 2015 @03:59PM
(#9501422)
That sort of reasoning sounds very good if you're good-looking, charming, live in an affluent area, go to the same church as the doctor, etc. There's a very thin line between compassion and corruption, and neither should have any place in the formal decision-making of medicine. If everyone should be given the treatment, then make a rule saying everyone gets the treatment. Don't leave it up to doctors' compassion.
Re:IBM's Watson will be used to make decisions about cancer ...
by icebraining on Wednesday May 06, 2015 @05:41PM
(#9501997)
If the money is instead going to save 80% of the patients waiting for some other treatment, then good. If it's going to be used for other means, then your problem is not the machine decision, it's the person who allocated the money in that way.
There's nothing magical about compassion. It's not like if the doctor just wishes you well hard enough, that'll make you get better. Should we stick to hand-crafted silicon chips, painstakingly etched by a former Swiss watchmaker full of compassion? Should compassionate telephone operators route your phonecall to its destination? If you want compassion, ask for a visit from the hospital chaplain.