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Ethical allocation of scarce health care resources in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. / Asignación ética de recursos sanitarios escasos en el contexto de crisis por COVID-19.
Aguilera, Bernardo.
  • Aguilera B; Department of Bioethics, The Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, United States; Departamento de Bioética y Humanidades Médicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. Address: Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Building 10, Room 1C118, Bethesda, MD 20892-1156, United States. Email: bernardo.aguilera@nih.gov. ORCID: 0000-0003-2409-8324.
Medwave ; 20(5): e7935, 2020 Jun 16.
Article in Spanish, English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-608950
ABSTRACT
The current COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to overwhelm the capacity of hospitals and Intensive Care Units in Chile and Latin America. Thus local authorities have an ethical obligation to be prepared by implementing pertinent measures to prevent a situation of rationing of scarce healthcare resources, and by defining ethically acceptable and socially legitimate criteria for the allocation of these resources. This paper responds to recent ethical guidelines issued by a Chilean academic institution and discusses the main moral principles for the ethical foundations of criteria for rationing during the present crisis. It argues that under exceptional circumstances such as the current pandemic, the traditional patient-centered morality of medicine needs to be balanced with ethical principles formulated from a public health perspective, including the principles of social utility, social justice and equity, among others. The paper concludes with some recommendations regarding how to reach an agreement about rationing criteria and about their implementation in clinical practice.
RESUMEN
La actual pandemia por COVID-19 tiene el potencial de sobrepasar la capacidad de hospitales y unidades de cuidados intensivos en Chile y América Latina. Por lo tanto, las autoridades locales tienen la obligación ética de estar preparadas mediante la implementación de medidas tendientes a evitar una situación de racionamiento de recursos sanitarios escasos, y a través de la definición de criterios éticamente aceptables y socialmente legítimos para la asignación de estos recursos. Este artículo presenta una respuesta a orientaciones éticas recientes emitidas por una institución académica chilena y analiza los principios éticos relevantes para la fundamentación ética de criterios de racionamiento. Se argumenta que, frente a circunstancias excepcionales como la actual pandemia, la moral centrada en el paciente de la medicina tradicional necesita ser ponderada con principios éticos formulados desde una perspectiva de salud pública, incluyendo los principios de utilidad social, justicia social y equidad, entre otros. Se concluye con algunas recomendaciones sobre cómo llegar a acuerdo sobre criterios de racionamiento y sobre la implementación de estos en la práctica clínica.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Pneumonia, Viral / Health Care Rationing / Public Health / Coronavirus Infections / Surge Capacity Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: South America / Chile Language: English / Spanish Journal: Medwave Year: 2020 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Pneumonia, Viral / Health Care Rationing / Public Health / Coronavirus Infections / Surge Capacity Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: South America / Chile Language: English / Spanish Journal: Medwave Year: 2020 Document Type: Article