Where to Find Ethical Guidance in a Pandemic

March 30, 2020

(AMA) – The COVID-19 pandemic has demanded of U.S. physicians, medical educators and policymakers to ask many difficult ethical questions. Among them: What is the physician’s duty to show up for work during a deadly outbreak? When is it appropriate to prescribe drugs that haven’t been approved to treat COVID-19? And when the supply of life sustaining equipment like ventilators is severely limited, which patients should get priority? The AMA has created an ethics resource, “AMA Code of Medical Ethics: Guidance in a pandemic,” that offers guidance to these questions and others relevant to the unfolding public health emergency. Drawing on numerous opinions from the Code, this resource includes discussions of ethical challenges particular to the COVID-19 response.