PHYSICIANS' MORAL DUTIES DURING PANDEMICS. J Emerg Med 2023 Jun;64(6):740-749
Date
06/03/2023Pubmed ID
37268477Pubmed Central ID
PMC10028360DOI
10.1016/j.jemermed.2023.02.009Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85162191097 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 1 CitationAbstract
BACKGROUND: Pandemics with devastating morbidity and mortality have occurred repeatedly throughout recorded history. Each new scourge seems to surprise governments, medical experts, and the public. The SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, for example, arrived as an unwelcome surprise to an unprepared world.
DISCUSSION: Despite humanity's extensive experience with pandemics and their associated ethical dilemmas, no consensus has emerged on preferred normative standards to deal with them. In this article, we consider the ethical dilemmas faced by physicians who work in these risk-prone situations and propose a set of ethical norms for current and future pandemics. As front-line clinicians for critically ill patients during pandemics, emergency physicians will play a substantial role in making and implementing treatment allocation decisions.
CONCLUSION: Our proposed ethical norms should help future physicians make morally challenging choices during pandemics.
Author List
Iserson KV, Derse AR, Moskop JC, Geiderman JMAuthor
Arthur R. Derse MD, JD Director, Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
HumansMoral Obligations
Pandemics
Physicians
Triage
