The Ventilator Dilemma
April 8, 2020
A new Washington Post article asks, “Who gets a shot at life if hospitals run short of ventilators?” and then reviews efforts to answer the question and controversies arising. In an Issues online exclusive, a physician and bioethicist suggests that for any allocation guidelines to be perceived as fair and gain public acceptance, the process for developing them should include input from both health care professionals and broader society, including groups that are traditionally disadvantaged when scarce resources such as health care are distributed.