Policy is mechanism by which decisions might be reached

EDITOR,-The Asbury draft policy on the ethical use of resources, which was developed by a fundholding practice to clarify the ethical basis of decisions, includes a description of a fictional situation concerning rationing. 1 In this, only one patient can have lifesaving treatment: either patient A, a brilliant surgeon who saves hundreds of lives a year and is a single parent with three young children, or patient B who is unemployed and without dependants.