PEDIATRICS Vol. 75 No. 4 April 1985, pp. 799
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Neonatal Intensive Care: Cost-Benefit Analysis

LEHMAN E. BLACK III MD1, RICHARD J. DAVID MD1, and DAVID G. MCLONE MD, PhD2

1 Division of Neonatology, Children's Memorial Hospital, 2300 Children's Plaza, Chicago, IL 60614
2 Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Children's Memorial Hospital, 2300 Children's Plaza, Chicago, IL 60614

To the Editor.—

The article by Walker et al1 supports an idea that is becoming commonplace in the medical literature: preserving the lives of certain segments of the population (in this case very low-birth-weight babies) may not be worthwhile, not because we are inflicting pain and suffering on them by our treatments, but because they may constitute a net fiscal burden on society. These authors are even more explicit than most, using a cost-benefit analysis that compares the costs of neonatal intensive care and future medical and educational services to an infant's "expected lifetime earnings" to determine a baby's net worth.