| Perspectives from bioethics, history of medicine, and health economics are applied to demonstrate the vulnerable status of mentally disturbed children. Moral philosophy and cultural history lay a foundation for a rights-based approach and social duty toward vulnerable populations. In the current context of scarce resources, corporatized healthcare, and emotionally-laden political discourse about just medical resource allocation, analysis of intergenerational obligations is pertinent. Principles from health economics are applied to show financial incentives' power within managed care, the consequences of which adversely impact not only individual child access to appropriate, quality care, but decisionmaking about whether to implement prevention programs potentially benefiting thousands of enrollees. The latter is particularly unfortunate, in light of promising findings about mental illness prevention programs' efficacy. Reform recommendations include strengthened roles for the federal government and schools, increased support for prevention and early intervention, adoption of a biopsychosocial perspective, and societal acceptance of allocative justice. |
