Vol. 42 No. 2 (2022): New challenges in decision-making processes
Articles

Integrated clinical judgement and physician responsibility at the time of Covid-19

Antonio Da Re
Università di Padova

Published 2022-12-11

Keywords

  • pandemic emergency triage,
  • age limit criterion,
  • algorithm criterion,
  • extra-clinical criterion,
  • integrated clinical criterion,
  • medical responsibility
  • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

Da Re, A. (2022). Integrated clinical judgement and physician responsibility at the time of Covid-19. Teoria. Rivista Di Filosofia, 42(2), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.4454/teoria.v42i2.153

Abstract

The essay deals with ethical and professional issues concerning access to intensive care units during the Covid-19 pandemic, when available healthcare resources were very scarce. The article criticises the a priori criterion of the age limit proposed by SIAARTI (Italian Society of Anaesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care), and the a priori criterion of the algorithm for determining which patients should be admitted to intensive care units. As an alternative to the extra-clinical criteria of the age limit and the algorithm, the essay proposes the integrated clinical criterion, which is more respectful of the physicians’ professional responsibility.