By Emily E. Barsky and Sadath Sayeed Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many nations are coping with what resource limited settings are all too familiar with—ventilator scarcity. In low-income countries, people— and particularly children— frequently die of reversible, acute respiratory failure due to across-the-board resource scarcity. Some such settings have responded to this by allowing parents […]
Category: Resource
How should non-life-saving surgery be rationed?
Helen Turnham, Guy Thorburn and Dominic Wilkinson. The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a total shut down of elective surgery within the NHS. In the forthcoming months there will be re-initiation of elective surgery but at significantly reduced capacity. The combination of pre-existing backlog, a protracted period of no surgery and an anticipated future period of […]
ICU triage: How many lives or whose lives?
By Angela Ballantyne Bioethicists around the world have been asked to advise on the goals and methods of triage protocols. Estimates suggest 5% of COVID19 cases will require ICU care. The key ethical tension is between utility and equity. There are other relevant principles of fair allocation such as reciprocity for frontline workers who have […]
Guest Post: Saving the baby, or the family?
Authors: Kristine Husøy Onarheim, Ole Frithjof Norheim, Ingrid Miljeteig Papers: Newborn health benefits or financial risk protection? An ethical analysis of a real-life dilemma in setting without universal health coverage. Imagine a two-day-old baby falling sick with a severe infection. Then imagine that the parents have no savings available, and cannot afford the necessary medical […]
Organ Donation in Wales: An Early Assessment of Deemed Consent
Andreas Albertsen Department of Political Science, Aarhus University Paper: Deemed Consent: assessing the new opt-out approach to organ procurement in Wales The shortage of organs for transplant continuous to be a sad fact across the globe. People die and suffer, while waiting for organs to become available. This sad state of affairs have sparked a number […]
More on Conscientious Objection: a Repy to a Reply
Guest post by Divine Banyubala A couple of days ago, Iain raised an interesting question about the draft Conscientious Objection (Medical Activities) Bill, and its compatibility with existing law (both civil and criminal) in respect of withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. In an insightful reply, Mary Neal made the points that “in key areas of practice […]
Conscientious Objection: A Quick(ish) Answer
Guest post by Mary Neal, Law School, University of Strathclyde The Conscientious Objection (Medical Activities) [HL] Bill, introduced by the crossbench peer Baroness O’Loan, received its second reading in the House of Lords on Friday 26th January and successfully proceeded to the committee stage. In a post on this blog the following day, Iain posed […]
Appealing to the Crowd: Ethical Justifications in Canadian Medical Crowdfunding Campaigns
Guest Post: Jeremy Snyder Paper:Appealing to the crowd: ethical justifications in Canadian medical crowdfunding campaigns Medical crowdfunding is a practice where users take advantage of the power of social networks to raise funds related to medical needs from friends, family, and strangers by sharing fundraising appeals online. Popular venues include GiveForward, GoFundMe, and YouCaring, among […]
Rationing of Antibiotics in the Critically Ill: Not if, but How?
Guest Post: Simon Oczkowski Paper: Antimicrobial stewardship programmes: bedside rationing by another name? The threat posed by antimicrobial resistant organisms (AROs) has long been recognized by the medical community as an emerging problem in public health. Though slow and insidious changes in the ability of bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses have real and profound effects on patients around […]
LECTURE: Rebalancing Empowerment and Protection: Evolving Legal Frameworks for Impaired Capacity
Thursday 8 December 2016, 18:00 – 19:00 UCL Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, Wilkins Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT Speaker: Professor Mary Donnelly (University College Cork) Chair: TBC Accreditation: This event is accredited with 1 CPD hour with the SRA and BSB Admission: Free, Registration required (here) The past decade has seen a notable […]