Macklin R

Language: English
References: 5
Page: 590-592
PDF size: 185.16 Kb.

ABSTRACT

On April 12, 2020, a bioethics guide for allocating scarce hospital resources during the current Covid-19 pandemic was posted on the website of the Consejo de Salubridad General (CSG) of the Government of Mexico. The guide, entitled Guía bioética para asignación de recursos limitados de medicina crítica en situación de emergencia, was intended as a preliminary document, but the website posting did not describe it as a first step in the process. The publicity resulted in a wide array of comments and criticisms. That first version posted on the CSG website contained an age-based criterion for breaking a tie between two or more medically eligible patients who needed of a ventilator: younger patients would have preference over older ones. The final version of the guide eliminated that criterion and instead, relied on the leading public health principle, “save the most lives”, without regard to personal characteristics other than the possibility of benefitting from the scarce medical resources. Keywords: ethics; social justice; pandemics

REFERENCES

1. Consejo de Salubridad General. Guía bioética de asignación de recursos de medicina crítica en situación de emergencia. Mexico City: CSG, 2020 [cited may 1, 2020]. Available at: http://csg.gob.mx/descargas/pdf/index/ informacion_relevante/GuiaBioeticaTriaje_30_Abril_2020_7pm.pdf

2. White DB, Katz MH, Luce JM, Lo B. Who should receive life support during a public health emergency? Using ethical principles to improve allocation decisions. Ann Intern Med. 2009;150(2):132-8. https://doi. org/10.7326/0003-4819-150-2-200901200-00011

3. Department of Critical Care Medicine. Allocation of scarce critical care resources during a public health emergency. Pensilvania: University of Pittsburgh, 2020 [cited may 2, 2020]. Available at: https://ccm.pitt. edu/sites/default/files/UnivPittsburgh_ModelHospitalResourcePolicy_2020_04_15.pdf

4. New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, New York State Department of Health. Ventilator allocation guidelines. New York: New York State, 2015 [cited may 1, 2020]. Available at: https://www.health.ny.gov/ regulations/task_force/reports_publications/docs/ventilator_guidelines.pdf

5. Archard D. Is it wrong to prioritise younger patients with covid-19? BMJ. 2020;369:m1509. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1509