Robotic-assisted surgery raises which ethical principle to determine access?

Robotic-assisted surgery raises which ethical principle to determine access?

• A. Justice
• B. Autonomy
• C. Beneficence
• D. Confidentiality

Answer: (A)

Distributive justice in healthcare—how we fairly allocate limited resources and access to treatments. Robotic-assisted surgery can offer real benefits, but the technology is expensive and not available everywhere. Deciding who gets to use it raises fairness concerns across patients, hospitals, regions, and insurance coverage. Justice covers both the fairness of the allocation process (procedural justice) and the fair distribution of benefits (distributive justice). Autonomy is about patients' right to make their own choices, beneficence about doing good for the patient, and confidentiality about privacy—areas important in care but not about who should have access to a costly technology. So access decisions are rooted in justice.

Distributive justice in healthcare—how we fairly allocate limited resources and access to treatments. Robotic-assisted surgery can offer real benefits, but the technology is expensive and not available everywhere. Deciding who gets to use it raises fairness concerns across patients, hospitals, regions, and insurance coverage. Justice covers both the fairness of the allocation process (procedural justice) and the fair distribution of benefits (distributive justice). Autonomy is about patients' right to make their own choices, beneficence about doing good for the patient, and confidentiality about privacy—areas important in care but not about who should have access to a costly technology. So access decisions are rooted in justice.