Its called Malthusian or Lifeboat ethics.....from a guy named Thomas Malthus

The lifeboat is full but there are lots more people in the water and if you try to let them all in....everybody drowns. So you save what you can, a Malthusian ethical dilema.

Not that it matters...but I wonder what role the placebo effect would have on deteriorating arteries. I know that in diseases where the immune system plays a role, that the placebo effect can be very real.

A Positive Mental Attitude has been shown to boost immune response...so just taking a placebo and thus causing a patient to have a PMA can boost the IS. And with conditions that cause pain....endorphins (or whatever they're called) can be released by the brain in those taking a placebo.

But with CVD caused by deteriorating arteries....I wonder if the placebo effect would even come into play.