Putting a price on death? The cost–benefit economics of VAD
'How can you assess the cost of something when the outcome is death?' asks Sydney GP and ethicist Dr Sami Isaac.
Given the vast expenditure that healthcare demands, most mainstream medical interventions have been subject to some form of cost–benefit analysis.
But there is one notable exception: voluntary assisted dying (VAD).
More than 7000 Australians have died under VAD laws since 2019, when Victoria became the first state to legalise it.
But exactly what is the price of this death?
