By Margot N I Kuylen On what basis should we allocate resources when resources are scarce? The COVID-19 pandemic has made this complex ethical question extremely salient, as newspapers reported at various points that critical care units across the world were reaching, or even exceeding, their capacity. A wealth of triage guidance has been published […]
Latest articles
The prisoner’s dilemma: The role of medical professionals in executions
By L. Elisabeth Armstrong A March 2021 Op-Ed in Washington Post asserts that Capital Punishment is ending in America. With twenty-three states abolishing the practice, another three institutionalizing moratoriums, and serious debate surrounding a moratorium on federal executions, it might seem that this is the case. However, much of the country continues to advance the […]
Consent requires more than respect for autonomy
By Abeezar I Sarela. Health is foundational to freedom We live in an increasingly libertarian society. Each individual’s liberty, or freedom, to do as she wishes in leading her own life is highly prized. The emphasis on freedom is particularly high in matters of healthcare. This derives from an appreciation that health is central to […]
How should we ration care during the COVID-19 pandemic?
By Liam Butchart, Kristin Krumenacker, Aymen Baig. As we have all seen over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic so far, our healthcare systems are not built for the stress of the deluge of patients who have presented with illness from the virus. Therefore, institutions and governments have had to come up with ways to […]
Is vaccination status an acceptable factor in triage?
By Angela Wentz Faulconer. More than 625,000 people in the United States and over 4.4 million people worldwide have died from Covid-19. As the Delta variant surges, many hospitals find themselves caring for patients in hallways, with no ECMO available and every ICU bed taken. A growing number of physicians have suggested that as hospitals become overwhelmed, we might weigh vaccination status as […]
Social, ethical, and behavioral factors that influence COVID-19 outcomes in medically underserved rural populations: Through the lens of narrative bioethics
By Sara K Shaw Green and Claudia R Baquet. The impact of COVID-19 on the United States has been and continues to be devastating. While the scientific community has advanced research to identify and combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus at an astounding rate, data continue to emerge that reflect how COVID-19 continues to disproportionately impact our […]
Coercive vaccination: using the ‘seat belt analogy’ is not effective
By Iñigo de Miguel Beriain. The debate about coercive vaccination is gaining intensity in most Western countries. One of the arguments that have been put forward in recent days in support of coercive vaccination has been that of the ‘seat belt analogy (SBA)’, originally proposed by Giubilini and Savulescu. This argument states that, since the […]
Boosters’ global ethics
By Ezio Di Nucci. Make no mistake: boosters work – if ‘working’ means significant reduction in infection, hospitalization, and death in those individuals who receive third doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The data out of Israel is so obvious even philosophers can read it. Let us therefore not confuse calls to avoid or delay […]
Would you or rather not? Affected persons in Germany and Israel have mixed opinions regarding predictive testing and early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease
By Zümrüt Alpinar-Sencan, Silke Schicktanz, Natalie Ulitsa and Perla Werner. The availability of a test that would predict the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the next ten years is a thrilling possibility. Thanks to the recent advances in biomarkers (biological markers, which are measurable indicators of a biological state or condition) research and […]
Vaccination, uncertainty, and the right to take risks
By Pei-hua Huang. Earlier this year, some patients developed a very rare and severe form of blood clot after receiving Covid-19 vaccines produced by AstraZeneca. The report prompted several countries to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccines. The European Medicines Agency also stepped in and launched an investigation. We still don’t have a complete […]