Study Case Question:
Two men in the same service are awaiting a keratoplasty( cornea transplant) because of chemical burns on their eyes. One is an alcoholic street person with other serious health problems. The other is a prominent lawyer with a wife and three children.
A donor's eye becomes available, and by coincidence both men's circular segments of the cornea match the donor's. The physician makes his decision on the basis of the first-come. First-served and transplants the cornea to the alcoholic.
Is it ethical to use the procedural rule first-come, first-served when one patient promises to have better medical results than the other? (the alcoholic has more serious health problems.) Is there a relevance to the patients' social positions?
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