Ethics

This forthcoming article reviews public health emergency principles of disaster planning and resource stewardship from the bioethical perspective with a focus on relevance for COVID-19 and future crises. In particular, the article focuses on pediatric populations and guidance for pediatric Read More

The editorial argues that the fairest approach to crisis triage and allocation of scarce resources requires use of clinical criteria applied to individualized patient assessment of likely recover, and not assumptions that favor or disfavor groups. The authors argue that Read More

This point-counterpoint presents arguments for and against allocation of scarce life-saving treatment resources using age as a criterion.  The argument against considering age includes three points. First, simple preference for younger patients is morally arbitrary. There is likely to be Read More

This article compares the ventilator allocation policies of hospitals that are associated with members of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors (ABPD), finding that at the time of survey over half of these hospitals did not have a ventilator triage Read More

This editorial describes the recommendations and ethical approach of the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) in response to scarcity of critical care resources in Italy during COVID-19 response. Italy suffered one of the earliest and Read More

This article outlines lessons from the authors’ experiences as Western practitioners working in resource-denied settings to inform the response to COVID-19 for frontline healthcare workers in high-income countries, who are typically unaccustomed to vulnerability and resource scarcity at a national Read More

This set of clinical practice guidelines from the Canadian Geriatrics Society (CGS) addresses methods for scarce resource allocation during a public health emergency, concluding that age alone is an inappropriate basis for rationing decisions because it fails to accurately capture Read More

This article reports on the California Department of Public Health’s newly released guidelines for allocating scarce resources if necessary due to case surge related to COVID-19. The guidance includes discussion of: Continuum of care (conventional, contingency, crisis); Roles and responsibilities; Read More

This essay argues that DNR (do not resuscitate) status should not be considered as a factor in decisions to allocate scarce ventilators during a public health emergency. The authors note that some existing and proposed public health emergency resource allocation Read More

This article reports on revised state crisis standards of care (CSC) guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health that addresses allocations of scarce critical care resources. As discussed in an earlier post, some lawmakers and advocates raised objections to Read More