TY - JOUR
T1 - Hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19
T2 - Critiquing the impact of disease public profile on policy and clinical decision-making
AU - Aquino, Yves S.J.
AU - Cabrera, Nicolo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
©
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - The controversy surrounding the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an antimalarial drug, for COVID-19 has raised numerous ethical and policy problems. Since the suggestion that HCQ has potential for COVID-19, there have been varying responses from clinicians and healthcare institutions, ranging from adoption of protocols using HCQ for routine care to the conduct of randomised controlled trials to an effective system-wide prohibition on its use for COVID-19. In this article, we argue that the concept of 'disease public profile' has become a prominent, if not the sole, determinant in decision-making across various healthcare responses to the pandemic. In the case of COVID-19, the disease's public profile is based on clinical and non-clinical factors that include contagiousness, clinical presentation and media coverage. In particular, we briefly examine the dangers of a heightened public profile in magnifying the inequality of diseases and undermining three key ethical concepts, namely (1) evidence-based practice, (2) sustainable allocation and (3) meaningful consent.
AB - The controversy surrounding the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an antimalarial drug, for COVID-19 has raised numerous ethical and policy problems. Since the suggestion that HCQ has potential for COVID-19, there have been varying responses from clinicians and healthcare institutions, ranging from adoption of protocols using HCQ for routine care to the conduct of randomised controlled trials to an effective system-wide prohibition on its use for COVID-19. In this article, we argue that the concept of 'disease public profile' has become a prominent, if not the sole, determinant in decision-making across various healthcare responses to the pandemic. In the case of COVID-19, the disease's public profile is based on clinical and non-clinical factors that include contagiousness, clinical presentation and media coverage. In particular, we briefly examine the dangers of a heightened public profile in magnifying the inequality of diseases and undermining three key ethical concepts, namely (1) evidence-based practice, (2) sustainable allocation and (3) meaningful consent.
KW - clinical ethics
KW - distributive justice
KW - history of health ethics/bioethics
KW - informed consent
KW - public health ethics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088528156&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/medethics-2020-106306
DO - 10.1136/medethics-2020-106306
M3 - Article
C2 - 32647045
AN - SCOPUS:85088528156
SN - 0306-6800
VL - 46
SP - 574
EP - 578
JO - Journal of Medical Ethics
JF - Journal of Medical Ethics
IS - 9
ER -