COVID-19 pandemic causing medical and public health ethical dilemmas: A case report and review of literature

Published: 24 March 2021
Abstract Views: 1601
PDF: 623
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

The COVID-19 pandemic presented myriad of unprecedented and daunting ethical dilemmas to healthcare workers, patients, their families, and the public health. Here we present a case of a 42-years-old Hispanic female with underlying hematological malignancy that developed severe SARS-COV-2 infection amidst the pandemic. This case illustrates some remarkable ethical dilemmas during pandemic times, including the lack of advanced directive planning, the repercussions of restricting family visits, and what ethics in crisis and moral injury entails. Identifying the ethical challenges emerging from the pandemic will assist physicians and other providers in making proper decisions and maintaining the best standard of care.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Maltoni M, Scarpi E, Rosati M, et al. Palliative sedation in end-of-life care and survival: a systematic review. J Clin Oncol 2012;30:1378-83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2011.37.3795
Jonsen AR, Siegler M, Winslade WJ. Clinical Ethics: A Practical Approach to Ethical Decisions in Clinical Medicine. 8th Edition ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hills; 2015.
Gesi C, Carmassi C, Cerveri G, et al. Complicated Grief: What to Expect After the Coronavirus Pandemic. Front Psychiatry 2020;11:489. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00489
Shen MJ, Gonzalez C, Leach B, et al. An examination of Latino advanced cancer patients' and their informal caregivers' preferences for communication about advance care planning: A qualitative study. Palliat Support Care 2020;18:277-284. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951519000890
Harkin DW. Ethics for surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic, review article. Ann Med Surg (Lond) 2020;55:316-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2020.06.003
Chew C, Ko D. Medical ethics in the era of COVID-19: Now and the future. Respirology 2020;25:1033-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/resp.13927
Kirkpatrick JN, Hull SC, Fedson S, Mullen B, Goodlin SJ. Scarce-Resource Allocation and Patient Triage During the COVID-19 Pandemic: JACC Review Topic of the Week. J Am Coll Cardiol 2020;76:85-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.05.006
Dunham AM, Rieder TN, Humbyrd CJ. A Bioethical Perspective for Navigating Moral Dilemmas Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Am Acad Orthop Surg 2020;28:471-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5435/JAAOS-D-20-00371
Rosa WE, Davidson PM. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): strengthening our resolve to achieve universal palliative care. Int Nurs Rev 2020;67:160-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12592
Coghlan N, Archard D, Sipanoun P, et al. COVID-19: legal implications for critical care. Anaesthesia 2020;75:1517-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/anae.15147
Wallace CL, Wladkowski SP, Gibson A, White P. Grief During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Considerations for Palliative Care Providers. J Pain Symptom Manage 2020;60:e70-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.012
Robert R, Kentish-Barnes N, Boyer A, et al. Ethical dilemmas due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ann Intensive Care 2020;10:84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13613-020-00702-7
Mone S, Kerr H. Prognostic awareness in advanced cancer: an integrative literature review. BMJ Support Palliat Care 2020; bmjspcare-2020-002287. Online ahead of print.
Chamsi-Pasha H, Chamsi-Pasha M, Albar MA. Ethical dilemmas in the era of COVID-19. Avicenna J Med 2020;10:102-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/AJM.AJM_119_20
Offodile AC, II, Aloia T. Oncology Clinical Transformation in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Health Forum with JAMA Surg 2018;53:605-6.
Curtis JR, Kross EK, Stapleton RD. The Importance of Addressing Advance Care Planning and Decisions About Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders During Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). JAMA 2020;323:1771-2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.4894
Kim SW, Su KP. Using psychoneuroimmunity against COVID-19. Brain Behav Immun 2020;87:4-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.03.025

How to Cite

Hernandez, Jarelys, Barbara Lubrano di Ciccone, Sarah Thirlwell, Margaret Booth-Jones, Sadaf Aslam, and John Greene. 2021. “COVID-19 Pandemic Causing Medical and Public Health Ethical Dilemmas: A Case Report and Review of Literature”. Qualitative Research in Medicine and Healthcare 5 (1). https://doi.org/10.4081/qrmh.2021.9690.