This article reports on the development of two sets of ethical allocation guidelines in Australia for a public health emergency in which resources must be rationed. One approach, led by bioethicist Angus Dawson, rejects the use of strict allocation formulas
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This op-ed describes ways that existing guidance for rationing scarce resources in response to COVID-19 case surge may be discriminatory towards persons with disabilities and reflect harmful stereotypes. The author cites recent resource allocation guidance from the British Medical Association
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This study provides an overview of the proportion of confirmed COVID-19 cases among those tested and the severity of the disease in children using a registry of tested cases from March 2, 2020, to March 16, 2020 by pediatricians in
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This forthcoming article discusses the application of ethical principles to resource allocation in response to a public health crisis, such as COVID-19, emphasizing both the continuity of central ethical principles such as respect for persons and the increased relevance of
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This press release from the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the resolution of a complaint against Alabama based on the state’s 2010 ventilator allocation guidelines, which were challenged as
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This study evaluates the relative risk of death from COVID-19 in people <65 years old versus older individuals in the general population, provides estimates of absolute risk of death in epicenters of the pandemic, and reports what proportion of COVID-19
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This essay from Joseph J. Fins, one of the authors of New York’s 2015 guidelines on ventilator allocation during a public health emergency, contends that the Task Force’s guidelines should not be interpreted to authorize the commandeering of ventilators used
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This article reports on new guidelines from Massachusetts health officials for potential rationing of ventilators in the event COVID-19 case surge overwhelms available supply. According to the article, the guidance uses an 8-point scoring system based on a patient’s likelihood
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This forthcoming article from the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine argues that, in allocating scarce resources, determining a patient’s potential to benefit from treatment should rely on a structured, evidence-based, and global assessment of frailty that accounts for more than
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This article reports on the potential that ventilators may be reallocated from long-term care facilities to hospitals to respond to resource scarcity due to COVID-19 case surge, including the controversial possibility of disconnecting ventilators currently in use by long-term ventilator-dependent
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