Regulus Arcturus Black
Full Member
Absolutely, that’s what happened in Spain and Italy and it’s horrific.In a context where the pandemic sees the health service overwhelmed, it's inevitable that the right to life of some will be at least undermined, isn't it?
Put bluntly, in a scenario where treatment capacity is overwhelmed doctors will be put in a position where they effectively have to knowingly allow some patients to die, not because they couldn't be saved but because there are other patients with a better chance of being saved. And those decisions will inevitably overwhelmingly favour the young over the old.
Leaving aside what the right official guidelines around this issue are or what the best way to communicate it is, the de facto reality is that the lives of elderly patients are likely to be assessed differently to the lives of younger patients as treatment is prioritised. And the worse the situation gets, the harsher and more reductive those judgement calls will be. Which is part of the horror facing the health service.
Are the UK already sending out DNR’s or is that online bullshit?