Ethics and Resource Scarcity: ASCO
Recommendations for the Oncology Community During the COVID19 Pandemic
The current pandemic has caused major difficulties for Hospitals, with large numbers of very sick patients whose low blood oxygen levels need intensive therapy and frequently mechanical ventilation. There is insufficient resource available and difficult decisions have to be made about who will receive intensive therapy and who will not.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology is concerned that patients with cancer may be missing out on such therapy because of the preconception, “well they’re going to die anyway”.
A list of recommendations states that a protocol should be established prior to acute presentation and if this policy takes pre-existing disease into account it should not be biased but evidence-based. Treating oncologists should not allocate resources, but should influence the setting of protocols. There should be transparency for cancer patients about the likely actions in the event of severe respiratory distress.
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