By Trevor M. Bibler. Clinical ethicists across the nation, and throughout the world, have recently devoted their waking hours to developing triage and allocation policies in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. As these policies develop, we find general agreement that shared processes should take the place of ad hoc, bedside allocation decisions, and that […]
Month: August 2020
We should sit this one out: Why ethicists should not help discuss treatment allocation decisions
By Claire Horner. Ethicists help both health care professionals and patients and their families by working through complex ethical questions or facilitating communication in a conflict. Clinical Ethics Consultation (CEC) is generally defined as “a set of services provided by an individual or group in response to questions from patients, families, surrogates, health care providers […]
PPE in the hospital: ethical decision-making that balances health professional wellbeing and duty to care
By Rosalind McDougall, Lynn Gillam, Danielle Ko, Isabella Holmes, Clare Delany Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians in well-resourced healthcare systems usually had the information and resources they needed to appropriately protect themselves while still providing optimal care for patients. However, achieving both staff protection and high quality patient care has now become difficult in […]
Mechanical ventilators: the evidence of effectiveness
By Jonathan J. Darrow and Jing Luo As government leaders move to relax physical distancing requirements related to severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a central assumption is that mechanical ventilators will form part of the safety net needed to sustain life in those afflicted with the disease it causes, Covid-19. Ventilators have been described as […]
Immunity-Based Licenses and the Politics of the Body
Blog by Insa Marie Schmidt, MD, MPH As COVID-19 continues to ravage the globe, several countries have now proposed to issue certifications proving that a person has developed immunity against the disease, either through recovery from infection or through a potential vaccine. These so-called “immunity passports” or “immunity-based licenses” would allow those who have antibodies […]
Patents, private governance and access to vaccines and treatments for Covid-19
By Aisling McMahon Recent moves such as by the United States and United Kingdom to negotiate deals to access large quantities of vaccines/medicines for Covid-19 within their territories raise serious questions around access to healthcare and global equitable distribution. Such attempts to secure preferential access, although understandable within the national context, can jeopardise supplies of […]