The Four Ethical Dilemmas:
RESPONSIBILITY :
Can medical responsibility change in times of pandemic?
FAIRNESS :
In times of emergency, scarce equipment, and contaminated medical staff,
where do we draw the line of whom we treat and whom we cannot, who will
live and who will die (triaging resources)?
DIGNITY :
Does the need for increased awareness of public harm in a pandemic
justify impinging on patients’ rights to bodily and personal dignity and
privacy?
HONOURING DEATH :
Does public interest in social distancing outweigh the patient’s right
not to die alone and the family’s right to be with their dying relative?
The ethical values at risk may be clearly striking and in this respect,
the challenging questions raised are intended to reinforce our values,
speak of the well-being of the sick human being, of the deadperson, in referring to a patient as a person to be cared for
rather than a critical case or a contaminating agent. And while the
coronavirus continues to widely spread across the globe, we hope that
our discussion can serve as a resource for advanced care planning,
helping medical providers and other specialists to consider the shared
important aspects of medical ethics in times of great uncertainty.
For the symposium video, please view:COVID-19
ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN HUMAN LIVES.
I would like to thank the Paris Global Center of Columbia University and
their wonderful team for hosting the symposium in these exceptional
times along with the Columbia Global Centers in Amman, Nairobi, and
Istanbul. And last, I would like to thank all the healthcare and
essential workers worldwide for their daily engagement to overcome the
COVID-19 virus.
Smadar Bustan
University of Paris Diderot
May 2020, France