Welcome to Ethics Consult -- an opportunity to discuss, debate (respectfully), and learn together. We present an ethical dilemma in patient care; you vote on your decision in the case. Next week, we'll reveal how you all made the call. And stay tuned -- an ethics expert will weigh in next week with an ethical framework to help you learn and prepare.
A 37-year-old physician and mother of two with a history of asthma works in a typically busy New York City hospital. With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping through the city and hospitals overwhelmed, she sees dozens of very sick patients every day.
The physician and her colleagues are taking every precaution to stay safe -- not just for themselves but also for their families and communities.
Recently, the administration announced that due to a shortage of supplies, all staff would have to reuse masks at least five times. The physician must choose between quitting or risking her own health.
See the results and what an ethics expert has to say.
This case was inspired by Told She Can't Wear Her Own Mask, Nurse Walks Off Job and The New York Times' In a Pandemic, Do Doctors Still Have a Duty to Treat?
And check out some of our past Ethics Consult cases: Take Elderly COVID-19 Patient Off Ventilator?, Hiding Dx From Elderly Cancer Patient? MD/JD Bangs the Gavel, and Euthanize Resistant Dementia Patient?