COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death: disentangling facts and values.

Amoretti, Maria Cristina; Lalumera, Elisabetta

Amoretti, Maria Cristina; Lalumera, Elisabetta.

Amoretti MC; Dipartimento di Antichità, Filosofia, Storia (DAFIST), Philosophy Section and Research Center for Philosophy of Health and Disease, University of Genoa, Via Balbi 4, 16126, Genoa, Italy. cristina.amoretti@unige.it.
Lalumera E; Dipartimento di Scienze per la Qualità della Vita (QUVI) and Research Center for Philosophy of Health and Disease, University of Bologna, Corso di Augusto 237, 47921, Rimini, Italy.

Hist Philos Life Sci ; 43(1): 4, 2021 Jan 08.

Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1014268

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

In the ongoing pandemic, death statistics influence people's feelings and government policy. But when does COVID-19 qualify as the cause of death? As philosophers of medicine interested in conceptual clarification, we address the question by analyzing the World Health Organization's rules for the certification of death. We show that for COVID-19, WHO rules take into account both facts (causal chains) and values (the importance of prevention).

Subject(s)

COVID-19/mortality; Cause of Death; Pandemics/statistics & numerical data; Philosophy; World Health Organization; Humans

Keywords

COVID-19; Causality; Underlying cause of death

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Philosophy / World Health Organization / Cause of Death / Pandemics / COVID-19 Type of study: Prognostic study Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Hist Philos Life Sci Year: 2021 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S40656-020-00355-6

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