Pandemic Ethics Flashcards
What is act vs. rule consequentialism?
Act = Each action should be evaluated on a case by case basis with consequences for everyone with no rules
Rule = We should have generalized rules to maximize good
It is a doctrine saying that it is more feasible to follow general rules than to compute every outcome for every person.
What is the difference between clinical medicine and public health? What takes precedence in a pandemic?
Clinical medicine = caring for individuals after the onset of illness
Public Health = working with healthy populations to prevent illness/spread takes priority in a pandemic
What was the connection between Hippocrates quote on healthcare and the pandemic?
Hippocrates spoke of comforting the patient always, which was difficult to do because of pandemic rules
What was the idea of moral distress applied to in the pandemics ethics lecture?
The suffering caused to healthcare workers due to the moral dilemmas and principles and duties.
What 4 duties do healthcare providers have during pandemics? What other duty is generally neglected?
- Duty to care for patients
- Duty to protect themselves from infection
- Duty to protect families, neighborhoods, colleagues
- Duty to society at large
—- duty to self-welfare
What countries regulate autonomy in healthcare?
UK = highly recommend not refusing to treat patients due to exposure
USA = balance immediate well being with long term well being
India = not allowed to refuse during emergency
What does the term “missing trees for the forest” mean?
Issues are so macro that the individual is forgotten
What is reciprocity in healthcare ethics?
It is the agreed upon idea that there must be help from also the system in certain situations
What moral principles were chosen over others in lockdown ethics?
Utility was chosen over autonomy, and public health was chosen over clinical duty
What was done in the pandemic to ration scarce resources?
Triage was done based on the utility principle
In what ways did undignified pandemic death give moral distress?
- Patients died alone without family
- Bodies were disposed of without ritual
- Dehumanization of the dead
- Healthcare provider distress
What moral principles were put into distress when healthcare providers were put in a place where there was not enough PPE?
Utility - Would I save more lives if I risked getting sick
Political responsibility
Ethics of care - patient well-being
Kantian Ethics - patients are not a means of getting PPE, also if everyone whistle blew there would be no doctors
