ETHICS & CURRENT EVENTS: COVID-19 ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Since been declared as a world pandemic by WHO (World Health Organization) on 11
March 2020; COVID-19 has had general adverse effects on the entire globe. The pandemic has
affected every sector of human activities, starting with administration, healthcare, education, and
socio-economic activities. COVID-19 has raised immense ethical challenges, especially for those
in administrative power, as they work towards minimizing the rates of infections, imposing
effective safety measures, ensuring maximum lives are saved; while at the same time promoting
the psychological well-being of the general population. The healthcare sector is one of those
hard-hit by ethical challenges and dilemmas; this is because of the possibility of healthcare
workers being forced to ration scarce critical care equipment. The ‘how’ and when’ to ration
policies differ in various institutions, especially in the face of a pandemic such as COVID-19.
However, the possibility of a patient benefiting or surviving from treatment administration is the
key consideration factors that a majority of health practitioners globally agree should be used.
There is nonetheless, a contentious debate on the ethically right procedures to follow while
determining how likely a patient is to benefit or survive before treatment commences.
Administration, and in this regard, governance, has faced extreme challenges, especially in the
creation and implementation of safety measures favorable and convenient for their respective
citizens. Through Kidder’s four paradigms of dilemmas (Kidder, 1995), this assignment seeks to
delve deeper and look at the adverse ethical impacts of COVID-19 on leadership and
administration, especially in healthcare and governance. It is a closer look at the detrimental
consequences of decisions made from a ‘right vs right’ situation.
, In the wake of being declared as a global pandemic by WHO, Covid-19’s surge has
gradually overwhelmed the capacity of major hospitals globally; this has led to increased debates
and ethical dilemma not only in regard to triage but also the effective administration of
treatment, allocation of vital machines such as ventilators, life support machines, and family
visits limitations. Daily, health care workers, especially those in the ICU(Intensive Care Unit),
face an immeasurable amount of guilt and an ethical dilemma while in the course of their duty;
for starters, COVID-19 has placed these healthcare practitioners in a position where they are
forced to question every decision made while administering or trying to save a patient’s life. It is
an extremely difficult situation where an intensivist has to weigh in on whether to uphold their
ethical duty and save a patient’s life while gambling with their safety and that of their kin. In his
first paradigm of ethical dilemmas, ‘Individual vs Community’, Kidder categorically states that
there will ultimately be serious down-side consequences, whether the decision made inclines
towards an individual or the community.
The question of whether to use a ventilator on a patient displaying the unlikeness of recovery or
a patient with less critical symptoms and higher chances of recovery; remains one of the areas
that pauses serious ethical conduct questions for health care workers. According to Menon &
Padhy (2020), despite being bound by the Hippocratic oath which entrusts doctors to care for
patients to the best of their abilities, Covid-19 has created unpleasant situations and
environments that cause a more practical approach towards the allocation of scarce resources
such as ventilators and life-support machines.
In other countries such as India, dealing with COVID-19 patients is further complicated
because of the implemented mercy-killing laws of the state; these rules require that a hospital
should have a committee that especially deals with euthanasia. If a patient on a life-support
Since been declared as a world pandemic by WHO (World Health Organization) on 11
March 2020; COVID-19 has had general adverse effects on the entire globe. The pandemic has
affected every sector of human activities, starting with administration, healthcare, education, and
socio-economic activities. COVID-19 has raised immense ethical challenges, especially for those
in administrative power, as they work towards minimizing the rates of infections, imposing
effective safety measures, ensuring maximum lives are saved; while at the same time promoting
the psychological well-being of the general population. The healthcare sector is one of those
hard-hit by ethical challenges and dilemmas; this is because of the possibility of healthcare
workers being forced to ration scarce critical care equipment. The ‘how’ and when’ to ration
policies differ in various institutions, especially in the face of a pandemic such as COVID-19.
However, the possibility of a patient benefiting or surviving from treatment administration is the
key consideration factors that a majority of health practitioners globally agree should be used.
There is nonetheless, a contentious debate on the ethically right procedures to follow while
determining how likely a patient is to benefit or survive before treatment commences.
Administration, and in this regard, governance, has faced extreme challenges, especially in the
creation and implementation of safety measures favorable and convenient for their respective
citizens. Through Kidder’s four paradigms of dilemmas (Kidder, 1995), this assignment seeks to
delve deeper and look at the adverse ethical impacts of COVID-19 on leadership and
administration, especially in healthcare and governance. It is a closer look at the detrimental
consequences of decisions made from a ‘right vs right’ situation.
, In the wake of being declared as a global pandemic by WHO, Covid-19’s surge has
gradually overwhelmed the capacity of major hospitals globally; this has led to increased debates
and ethical dilemma not only in regard to triage but also the effective administration of
treatment, allocation of vital machines such as ventilators, life support machines, and family
visits limitations. Daily, health care workers, especially those in the ICU(Intensive Care Unit),
face an immeasurable amount of guilt and an ethical dilemma while in the course of their duty;
for starters, COVID-19 has placed these healthcare practitioners in a position where they are
forced to question every decision made while administering or trying to save a patient’s life. It is
an extremely difficult situation where an intensivist has to weigh in on whether to uphold their
ethical duty and save a patient’s life while gambling with their safety and that of their kin. In his
first paradigm of ethical dilemmas, ‘Individual vs Community’, Kidder categorically states that
there will ultimately be serious down-side consequences, whether the decision made inclines
towards an individual or the community.
The question of whether to use a ventilator on a patient displaying the unlikeness of recovery or
a patient with less critical symptoms and higher chances of recovery; remains one of the areas
that pauses serious ethical conduct questions for health care workers. According to Menon &
Padhy (2020), despite being bound by the Hippocratic oath which entrusts doctors to care for
patients to the best of their abilities, Covid-19 has created unpleasant situations and
environments that cause a more practical approach towards the allocation of scarce resources
such as ventilators and life-support machines.
In other countries such as India, dealing with COVID-19 patients is further complicated
because of the implemented mercy-killing laws of the state; these rules require that a hospital
should have a committee that especially deals with euthanasia. If a patient on a life-support
