Re: A bioethicist weighs in: Was Cheney too old for a transplant?
All services where demand exceeds supply must be rationed, whether by an administrative decision based on guidelines and judgements, the flip of a coin, custom and tradition, or by the market.
Maybe it should be decided by who can most afford it. Put the service up for bid. Let he who can pay the most get the heart first. And if the hearts run out before the money does, well, so it goes.
And why stop at medical rationing? How about lifeboat seats on a sinking ship? Women and children first? What a quaint old tradition! Why not First class, and Second if there's room; steerage...well, that's not part of the price of your ticket.