Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35282832›Full record

ArticleBMC medical ethics2022

What if some patients are more "important" than others? A possible framework for Covid-19 and other emergency care situations.

Andrea Lavazza, Mirko D Garasic

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical ethics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Andrea LavazzaCentro Universitario Internazionale (CUI), Cui, via Garbasso, 42, 52100, Arezzo, Italy. lavazza67@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0003-2608-2609
Mirko D GarasicDipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Covid-19 pandemic caused situations where, in some hospitals, there were more patients in need of urgent treatment in intensive care units (ICU) than were available. In particular, there were not sufficient ventilators or critical care resources for all patients in danger of dying from respiratory failure or other organ failures. DISCUSSION: As the "first come, first served" criterion was not considered adequate, more nuanced and fairer clinical criteria were proposed to assess whom to treat first. One type of patients that has not been considered in the literature so far is that of "important patients", individuals that many people might consider worthy of priority treatment for the contribution they made or might make to society as a whole. In this article, we discuss the moral insights behind the possible treatment of "important patients" and suggest a supererogatory solution of voluntary renunciation/withdrawal. Details of the proposal are explained, and potential objections are addressed.

Indexed as

COVID-19Emergency Medical ServicesCritical CareHumansIntensive Care UnitsPandemicsAltruismHealthcare renunciationInformed consentPriority treatmentTriage

Identifiers

PMID35282832
PMCPMC8918089

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.