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