COVID-19 revives fears of ‘death panels’
Disability rights groups say state guidelines allow doctors to decide who gets treatment for coronavirus.
Disabled rights groups are asking the Trump Administration to intervene on their behalf as they believe state pandemic guidelines allow doctors to withhold treatment from patients because of their longevity and future quality of life, according to Politico.
Determining which patients get care brings up the fear of so-called “death panels” that became a political issue during the debate over Obamacare.
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The issue has come to the fore again based on triage guidelines in Texas and Arizona, two states that have seen a surge in coronavirus cases over the last several weeks. Those guidelines allow doctors to determine who receives resources such as ventilators based on their resultant quality of life and a life expectancy of at least five years. Advocacy groups have filed 11 complaints to the Department of Health and Human Resources (HHS) since March. The issue came to a head in June when a hospital in Austin, TX discontinued treatment of a quadriplegic patient and moved him to hospice care.
The advocacy groups have asked the Trump Administration for help, and they say the Administration, led by civil rights office head Roger Severino, has been receptive.
HHS took action in Tennessee, where the state agreed to revise its triage guidelines to consider only a patient’s chances of survival in determining the level of care, not their disability. Severino has had issues with how the odds of survival among disabled patients is determined. His policies have “sent a message to states,” Shira Wakschlag, director of legal advocacy for The Arc, told Politico.
Arizona is likely next. The state’s triage guidelines were issued in June and allow doctors to factor in whether a patient is likely to live for five years if they recover from COVID-19, and hospitals in Arizona have asked that the state’s discrimination laws be waived so that they cannot be sued if they have to choose who gets care.
Health care workers on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 are faced with these dilemmas as hospital resources are stretched thin due to the rising number of cases. But the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American College of Physicians (ACP) say they reject any triage measures that could discriminate against any group as “not ethically defensible,” according to Politico.
Steve Salkin is a managing editor for BenefitsPRO parent company ALM.
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