By David Shaw Arsonists in the UK have attacked at least 40 mobile phone masts in recent weeks because they believe that they spread coronavirus. This sounds ridiculous, but it is deadly serious. The latest fire affected the mast at the new Nightingale hospital built for virus patients in Birmingham, putting important communication channels at […]
Latest articles
Prioritizing justice in ventilator allocation
By L. Syd M Johnson As the Covid-19 pandemic intensified worldwide, grim reports out of Italy’s embattled and overwhelmed hospitals foretold the need to plan for rationing ventilators in the event that the number of patients requiring them exceeded the number available. Hospitals, ethics committees, and government agencies around the US began planning for the […]
Hydroxychloroquine and Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19: The role of Healthcare Professionals
By Joseph Adetola Adedigba and Sarah Perou Hermans. Currently, there are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pharmaceutical treatments for COVID-19, and this has led to speculations concerning the efficacy of various experimental drugs and combinations. Hydroxychloroquine has been promoted as a potential treatment for COVID-19 by United States President Donald J. Trump. On […]
Not only benefit: equity and fairness in states’ responses to COVID-19
By Nic Aagaard, Lynley Anderson, Neil Pickering A range of important ethical considerations that have arisen due to the emergence of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. A potentially important part of the international response is the role of National Ethics Committees (NECs). NECs are generally advisory committees, offering ethical comment to governments and other institutions, and […]
Towards meaningful human control. Using artificial intelligence in clinical decision making
By Matthias Braun, Patrik Hummel, Susanne Beck, Peter Dabrock Clinical decision-making can be challenging. The subject matter is complex. Decisions can have incisive, long-lasting consequences. There is imperfect evidence and informational asymmetries between those involved. Time constraints and economic restrictions complicate the process further. In view of difficulties like these, it is tempting to deploy […]
DNACPRs and advance care planning in the COVID19 pandemic: key lessons
By Catriona McMillan and Victoria Sobolewska Patient-doctor discussions surrounding do not attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) orders amidst the COVID-19 pandemic have caused widespread, understandable panic in the UK, set against a backdrop of proportionately higher elderly deaths, discussions surrounding resource allocation (particularly with reference to ventilators), and emerging stories of rising care home deaths. Here, […]
Laissez COVID19 faire, laissez COVID19 passer?
By Gabriela Arguedas Ramírez Pandemics are threshold situations that put our individual and collective convictions, priorities and capacities to the test. They test state institutions, the ethical principles that have guided the formation of public policy and the strengths and weaknesses of our social fabric. Pandemics are ethical-political issues and not simply medical or biological […]
Deciding who gets the ventilator: Will some lives be lost unlawfully?
By Kathleen Liddell, Jeffrey M. Skopek, Stephanie Palmer, Stevie Martin, Jennifer Anderson and Andrew Sagar. When Covid-19 patients reach the point of critical illness where ventilation is necessary, they tend to deteriorate quickly. They will die if they do not receive ventilation very soon. But ventilation is not a cure – it gives the patient’s […]
‘Your country needs you’: The ethics of allocating staff to high-risk clinical roles in the management of patients with COVID-19
By Michael Dunn, Mark Sheehan, Joshua Hordern, Helen Turnham and Dominic Wilkinson. As the COVID-19 pandemic impacts on health service delivery, health providers are modifying care pathways and staffing models in ways that require health professionals to be reallocated to work in critical care settings. Many of the roles to which staff are being allocated […]
What happens when a healthcare institution becomes a research subject?
By Jan Piasecki and Vilius Dranseika. Consider a hospital manager who works in a large hospital employing hundreds of medical professionals and receiving thousands of patients every day. When she is approached by a group of researchers, she faces a difficult decision. On the one hand, she and the staff of her hospital are committed […]