An ethical analysis of clinical triage protocols and decision-making frameworks: what do the principles of justice, freedom, and a disability rights approach demand of us?
BMC Med Ethics
; 23(1): 11, 2022 02 11.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1699144
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The expectation of pandemic-induced severe resource shortages has prompted authorities to draft and update frameworks to guide clinical decision-making and patient triage. While these documents differ in scope, they share a utilitarian focus on the maximization of benefit. This utilitarian view necessarily marginalizes certain groups, in particular individuals with increased medical needs. MAIN BODY Here, we posit that engagement with the disability critique demands that we broaden our understandings of justice and fairness in clinical decision-making and patient triage. We propose the capabilities theory, which recognizes that justice requires a range of positive capabilities/freedoms conducive to the achievement of meaningful life goals, as a means to do so. Informed by a disability rights critique of the clinical response to the pandemic, we offer direction for the construction of future clinical triage protocols which will avoid ableist biases by incorporating a broader apprehension of what it means to be human.CONCLUSION:
The clinical pandemic response, codified across triage protocols, should embrace a form of justice which incorporates a vision of pluralistic human capabilities and a valuing of positive freedoms.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Triage
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
BMC Med Ethics
Journal subject:
Ethics
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12910-022-00749-0
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS