A piece of my mind. Charity, the media, and limited medical resources
Boisaubin, E.V.
JAMA 259(9): 1375-1376
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0098-7484 PMID: 3352141 Document Number: 315869
In JAMA's "A piece of my mind" column, Boisaubin deplores the growing trend to use the mass media by people seeking financial support for particular patients or diseases. Such pleas work because they appeal to the public's charitable impulses by focusing on children needing organ transplants or on other sympathy-arousing victims of disease. Nevertheless, there are several negative aspects of this trend: the lack of equity for those who do not have equal access to the media, the competition engendered between individual victims and charitable institutions for the charity dollar, and the dependency of all media appeals on emotion rather than reflection. While personal appeals cannot and should not be prohibited, the media should be required to assure that exploitation and injustice are avoided and to take the responsibility for placing individual appeals in the context of broader health care priorities.