Ethical considerations of the duty to care and physician safety in the COVID-19 pandemic

Francis Bakewell^{1

2

3}, Merril A Pauls^{3

4}, David Migneault^{3

5

6

7

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON.
² Medicine, Ethics, and Humanities Program, Department of Innovation in Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON.
³ CAEP Bioethics Committee.
⁴ Health Sciences Centre, Max Rady College of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.
⁵ Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
⁶ BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
⁷ UBC Urgent Care Centre, Vancouver, BC.
⁸ Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, BC.
⁹ UBC Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

Francis Bakewell et al. CJEM. 2020 Jul.

. 2020 Jul;22(4):407-410.

doi: 10.1017/cem.2020.376.

Francis Bakewell^{1

2

3}, Merril A Pauls^{3

4}, David Migneault^{3

5

6

7

8

9}

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON.
² Medicine, Ethics, and Humanities Program, Department of Innovation in Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON.
³ CAEP Bioethics Committee.
⁴ Health Sciences Centre, Max Rady College of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.
⁵ Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
⁶ BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
⁷ UBC Urgent Care Centre, Vancouver, BC.
⁸ Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, BC.
⁹ UBC Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

No abstract available

Keywords: COVID-19; Ethical obligations; pandemic; physician safety.

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

1. World Health Organization. Ethical considerations in developing a public health response to pandemic influenza. Geneva: WHO Press; 2007. Available at: https://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/WHO_CDS_EPR_GIP_2007_2c.pdf (accessed April 23, 2020).
1. BC Provincial COVID-19 Task Force. COVID-19 ethics analysis: what is the ethical duty of health care workers to provide care during COVID-19 pandemic? BC Ministry of Health; 2020. Available at: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/o... (accessed April 23, 2020).
1. Canadian Medical Association. Caring in a crisis: the ethical obligations of physicians and society during a pandemic. Ottawa: CMA; 2008. Available at: https://policybase.cma.ca/en/permalink/policy9109 (accessed April 23, 2020).
1. Canadian Medical Association. Framework for ethical decision making during the coronavirus pandemic. Ottawa: CMA; 2020. Available at: https://policybase.cma.ca/permalink/policy14133 (accessed April 23, 2020).
1. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Public health emergencies. Toronto: CPSO; 2009. Available at: https://www.cpso.on.ca/Physicians/Policies-Guidance/Policies/Public-Heal... (accessed April 23, 2020).