'Triage officers' would decide who gets care and who doesn't if COVID-19 cripples L.A. County hospitals

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Short on resources, L.A. County's public hospitals may soon ration care. 'Triage officers' will decide who gets treated and who is too sick to be saved.

Physicians, clerics and ethicists have debated for generations how to equitably allocate scarce resources in a time of crisis.“Now we are on the verge of entering uncharted territory, as we may have to actually make those decisions,” said Dr. Arun Patel, the physician and lawyer overseeing the triage program for L.A. County. “No one in the United States has had to implement guidelines like this, at this scale, or for the duration that we may have to.

One doctor at a major Los Angeles hospital acknowledged that he would probably tilt toward providing care to a 40-year-old over an 80-year-old, even if both had an equal chance of surviving COVID-19, because the younger patient presumably would have the longer life expectancy. The county’s policy is most clear on what it does not allow: discrimination against individuals based on their identity. The guidelines note that it is unethical and illegal to deny care to individuals based on their religion, race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status or disability.

Dr. Nikhil Barot, a pulmonary care doctor at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, said he is facing a “fearsome time” preparing to take on his role as one of the county’s triage officers.

 

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