Ethical considerations for allocation of scarce resources and alterations in surgical care during a pandemic
Open Access
- 12 May 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Surgical Endoscopy
- Vol. 35 (5), 2217-2222
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-020-07629-x
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is unprecedented in modern history. Its effects on social behavior and health care delivery have been dramatic. The resultant burden of disease and critical illness has outpaced the diagnostic, therapeutic, and health care professional resources of many clinics and hospitals. It continues to do so globally. The allocation of hospital beds and ventilators, personal protective equipment, investigational therapeutics, and other scarce resources has required difficult decisions. Clinical and surgical practices which are standard in normal times may not be standard or safe during the COVID-19 crisis. How can we best adapt as physicians and surgeons? What foundational ethical principles and systems of principle application can help guide our decision-making? Fortunately, a large body of work in medical ethics addresses these questions. Unfortunately, many surgeons and other health care professionals are probably not as familiar with these concepts. This brief communication is intended to provide a concise explanation of ethical considerations which readers may find helpful when addressing allocation of scarce resources and alterations in surgical care brought on by the current pandemic.Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- Virological assessment of hospitalized patients with COVID-2019Nature, 2020
- The Toughest Triage — Allocating Ventilators in a PandemicThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Fair Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources in the Time of Covid-19The New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Rapid Expert Consultation on Crisis Standards of Care for the COVID-19 PandemicPublished by The National Academies Press ,2020
- Who Should Receive Life Support During a Public Health Emergency? Using Ethical Principles to Improve Allocation DecisionsAnnals of Internal Medicine, 2009
- Principles for allocation of scarce medical interventionsThe Lancet, 2009