From Patient Care To Vaccine Distribution: The Ethical Dilemmas Of The Pandemic

Hear today’s radio diary on an ER doctor’s ethical dilemma amid the pandemic. 

The pandemic has been rife with ethical dilemmas: from patient care to vaccine distribution nationwide. We discuss how to think through the ethical implications of COVID-19.

Guests

Yolonda Wilson, professor of philosophy at Howard University. Former visiting scholar in bioethics at the National Institute of Health. (@ProfYolonda)

Akilah Jefferson Shah, allergist-immunologist and bioethicist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Former fellow in allergy and immunology and bioethics at the National Institute of Health. (@DrAkilahJ)

Also Featured

Amal Mattu, emergency physician and professor of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. (@AmalMattu)

From The Reading List

The Atlantic: “What the Chaos in Hospitals Is Doing to Doctors” — “The original ‘God Committee’ had seven members: a surgeon, a minister, a banker, a labor leader, a housewife, a government worker, and a lawyer.”

CNN: “Covid-recovering Trump promised top drugs for all — he’s mainly just helped his friends” — “When President Donald Trump emerged from a three-night hospital stay for his coronavirus infection, he made a vow in a videotaped on the White House South Lawn.”

Axios: “The coronavirus vaccine distribution plan raises ethical questions” — “The first vaccination sites are expected to receive coronavirus vaccines today, the next step of an extraordinary endeavor that’s brought us to the beginning of the end of the pandemic.”

The Conversation: “COVID-19 makes clear that bioethics must confront health disparities” — “With some reluctance, I’ve come to the sad realization the COVID-19 pandemic has been a stress test for bioethics, a field of study that intersects medicine, law, the humanities and the social sciences.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2020 NPR]