The Prioritization of Life-Saving Resources in a Pandemic Surge Crisis.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	The Prioritization of Life-Saving Resources in a Pandemic Surge Crisis.
Authors:	White III, Frederick J.
Source:	Issues in Law & Medicine. Spring/Fall2020, Vol. 35 Issue 1/2, p99-116. 18p.
Subjects:	Bioethics, Epidemics, Ethics, Health care rationing, Health planning, Medical quality control, Medical emergencies, Physicians, Responsibility, COVID-19
Abstract:	The COVID-19 pandemic has engendered a national discussion regarding scarce life-saving medical resources. These discussions often turn on allocation, reconfiguration, and reallocation of resources during the surge crisis of a declared emergency. Protocols to address these issues are being widely promulgated. From the standpoint of biomedical ethics, the principal concerns in these discussions should center on duty, justification, legality, and underlying moral standards. In this article the author explores general concepts of prioritization and crisis standards of care, physician duties and the conflict of those duties, the problematic nature of reallocation, and legitimate responses to the extreme absolute scarcity of surge crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database:	Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection

Description
Abstract:	The COVID-19 pandemic has engendered a national discussion regarding scarce life-saving medical resources. These discussions often turn on allocation, reconfiguration, and reallocation of resources during the surge crisis of a declared emergency. Protocols to address these issues are being widely promulgated. From the standpoint of biomedical ethics, the principal concerns in these discussions should center on duty, justification, legality, and underlying moral standards. In this article the author explores general concepts of prioritization and crisis standards of care, physician duties and the conflict of those duties, the problematic nature of reallocation, and legitimate responses to the extreme absolute scarcity of surge crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	87568160