RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The claim for patient choice and equity JF Journal of Medical Ethics JO J Med Ethics FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics SP 271 OP 274 DO 10.1136/jme.2006.019570 VO 34 IS 4 A1 D A Barr A1 L Fenton A1 D Blane YR 2008 UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/34/4/271.abstract AB Recently, commentators close to and within the UK government have claimed that patient choice can increase equity in the context of the National Health Service. This article critically examines the basis for this claim through analysis of recent speeches and publications authored by secretaries of state for health and their policy advisers. It is concluded that this claim has not developed prospectively from an analysis of the causes of healthcare inequity, or even with a consistent normative definition of equity. The limited justification that is “framed in causal explanations” of inequity has suffered from an apparent disregard of the available evidence.