When Is Age Choosing Ageist Discrimination? #MMPMID33320366
Brown TR; Francis LP; Tabery J
Hastings Cent Rep 2021[Jan]; 51 (1): 13-15 PMID33320366show ga
When the Covid-19 pandemic reached the United States in spring 2020, many states and hospitals announced crisis standards of care plans that used age as a categorical exclusion criterion. Such age choosing was quickly flagged as discriminatory, and so some states and hospitals shifted to embedding age as a tiebreaker deeper in their plans. Different rationales were given for using age as a tiebreaker: that younger patients were more likely to survive than older patients, that saving younger patients would save more life years, and that younger patients deserved a chance to live through life's stages. We provide a critical analysis of these three rationales, noting the differences between them, and then questioning the ethical and legal justifications for such age choosing.
Hastings+Cent+Rep 2021 ; 51 (1): 13-15
