Extremely premature infants, scarcity and the COVID‐19 pandemic

Scarcity is Nature's creative provenance, the wellspring of human conflict and subsequent adaptation. Deficiencies of food, shelter, and basic safety are primary, but secondary privations real or imagined (material comforts, money, power, sex), are often perceived insufficient by humankind and drive history's discord (1). The COVID-19 pandemic spotlights scarcity and resource allocation, and we hope rational scrutiny of value in healthcare (benefits accrued/resources consumed). Physicians are more aware of this historic opportunity to thoughtfully study value considerations as objective metrics that can facilitate reasoned analysis, innovation, and justice (2).

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