Coronavirus: German doctors lay down life-or-death guidelines

The COVID-19 pandemic could lead to an acute shortage of intensive care beds in hospitals around the world. German doctors have now come up with guidelines on how to prioritize treatment.

German doctors’ associations have agreed on a set of ethical guidelines to help doctors make life-or-death decisions when treating coronavirus patients.

[…]

Who gets priority?

[…] decisions about who gets treatment must be medically justified and fair. Transparency and earning the trust of the population are crucial[…]

[…] A team of three experts with different medical backgrounds should make the final life or death decision[…]

The severity of the infection, secondary illnesses, and the patient’s will should all be considered […] but age and social status should not come into play.

Age not among criteria

“[…]decided against ‘age’ as a criterion and want to proceed in a very nuanced way,”

[…]

that having clear guidelines […] save stress in the end, while at the same time strengthen hospitals’ crisis management capabilities.

Full article at Deutsche Welle 

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