Carly Ruderman, C. Tracy, Cécile Bensimon, Mark Bernstein, Laura Hawryluck, Randi Zlotnik Shaul & Ross Upshur
BMC Medical Ethics 7 (1):1-6 (2006)
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Abstract |
Background As a number of commentators have noted, SARS exposed the vulnerabilities of our health care systems and governance structures. Health care professionals (HCPs) and hospital systems that bore the brunt of the SARS outbreak continue to struggle with the aftermath of the crisis. Indeed, HCPs – both in clinical care and in public health – were severely tested by SARS. Unprecedented demands were placed on their skills and expertise, and their personal commitment to their profession was severely tried. Many were exposed to serious risk of morbidity and mortality, as evidenced by the World Health Organization figures showing that approximately 30% of reported cases were among HCPs, some of whom died from the infection. Despite this challenge, professional codes of ethics are silent on the issue of duty to care during communicable disease outbreaks, thus providing no guidance on what is expected of HCPs or how they ought to approach their duty to care in the face of risk. Discussion In the aftermath of SARS and with the spectre of a pandemic avian influenza, it is imperative that we (re)consider the obligations of HCPs for patients with severe infectious diseases, particularly diseases that pose risks to those providing care. It is of pressing importance that organizations representing HCPs give clear indication of what standard of care is expected of their members in the event of a pandemic. In this paper, we address the issue of special obligations of HCPs during an infectious disease outbreak. We argue that there is a pressing need to clarify the rights and responsibilities of HCPs in the current context of pandemic flu preparedness, and that these rights and responsibilities ought to be codified in professional codes of ethics. Finally, we present a brief historical accounting of the treatment of the duty to care in professional health care codes of ethics. Summary An honest and critical examination of the role of HCPs during communicable disease outbreaks is needed in order to provide guidelines regarding professional rights and responsibilities, as well as ethical duties and obligations. With this paper, we hope to open the social dialogue and advance the public debate on this increasingly urgent issue.
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Keywords | info:mesh/Health Personnel info:mesh/Emergencies info:mesh/Societies, Medical info:mesh/Ethics, Professional info:mesh/Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome info:mesh/Codes of Ethics info:mesh/Influenza, Human info:mesh/Refusal to Treat info:mesh/Humans info:mesh/Social Responsibility info:mesh/Professional Role info:mesh/Risk-Taking info:mesh/Moral Obligations info:mesh/Communicable Diseases info:mesh/Disease Outbreaks Humans Communicable Diseases Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Emergencies Risk-Taking Professional Role Public Health Disease Outbreaks Ethics, Professional Codes of Ethics Social Responsibility Moral Obligations Health Personnel Societies, Medical Refusal to Treat Influenza, Human info:mesh/Public Health |
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DOI | 10.1186/1472-6939-7-5 |
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References found in this work BETA
When Pestilence Prevails Physician Responsibilities in Epidemics.Samuel J. Huber & Matthew K. Wynia - 2004 - American Journal of Bioethics 4 (1):5 – 11.
In Harm's Way: AMA Physicians and the Duty to Treat.Chalmers C. Clark - 2005 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 30 (1):65 – 87.
Diminishing Returns? Risk and the Duty to Care in the Sars Epidemic.Lynette Reid - 2005 - Bioethics 19 (4):348–361.
Physician Obligation in Disaster Preparedness and Response.Karine Morin, Daniel Higginson & Michael Goldrich - 2006 - Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 15 (4):417-421.
Citations of this work BETA
Ethics, Pandemics, and the Duty to Treat.Heidi Malm, Thomas May, Leslie P. Francis, Saad B. Omer, Daniel A. Salmon & Robert Hood - 2008 - American Journal of Bioethics 8 (8):4 – 19.
Relational Ethical Approaches to the COVID-19 Pandemic.David Ian Jeffrey - 2020 - Journal of Medical Ethics 46 (8):495-498.
Research Ethics and International Epidemic Response: The Case of Ebola and Marburg Hemorrhagic Fevers.Philippe Calain, Nathalie Fiore, Marc Poncin & Samia A. Hurst - 2009 - Public Health Ethics 2 (1):7-29.
Balancing Health Worker Well-Being and Duty to Care: An Ethical Approach to Staff Safety in COVID-19 and Beyond.Rosalind J. McDougall, Lynn Gillam, Danielle Ko, Isabella Holmes & Clare Delany - 2021 - Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (5):318-323.
Can Healthcare Workers Reasonably Question the Duty to Care Whilst Healthcare Institutions Take a Reactive Approach to Infectious Disease Risks?Michael Millar & Desmond T. S. Hsu - 2019 - Public Health Ethics 12 (1):94-98.
View all 20 citations / Add more citations
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