To what extent has the reorganization of nuclear medicine activities during the COVID-19 pandemic fulfilled medical ethi
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
To what extent has the reorganization of nuclear medicine activities during the COVID-19 pandemic fulfilled medical ethics? Sandra Gonzalez 1,2 & David Taïeb 1,2,3 & Eric Guedj 1,2,4 & Pierre Le Coz 5 & Serge Cammilleri 1,2,4 Received: 7 July 2020 / Accepted: 18 August 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Dear Sir, The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has produced unprecedented damage around the globe. National responses have been varied, including preventive containment measures such as lockdowns, quarantines, and curfews. In France, people were under lockdown for 55 consecutive days and had to fill out a form to leave their house. Since May 11, 2020, a gradual deconfinement has been undertaken while maintaining proper health vigilance with respect to barrier gestures, physical distancing, personal protective equipment, and travel restrictions. This has led to suspension of routine medical care and elective surgeries across the country. In this context, respecting ethical principles of medicine is fundamental, and must guide all medical decisions. In order to comply with European and international recommendations [1, 2], relayed at the national level by the French Society of Nuclear Medicine, nuclear medicine departments had to prioritize diagnostic examinations by retaining only This article is part of the Topical Collection on Infection and inflammation * Sandra Gonzalez [email protected] 1
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, La Timone University Hospital, Marseille, France
2
Service de Médecine Nucléaire, Centre hospitalo-universitaire de la Timone, Centre Européen de Recherche en Imagerie Médicale (CERIMED), Aix-Marseille Université, 264, rue Saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille, France
3
Aix-Marseille Université INSERM, UMR1068, CRCM, Marseille, France
4
Institut Fresnel, Aix-Marseille Université, CRCM, Ecole Centrale Marseille, UMR 7249, Marseille, France
5
Espace Ethique Méditerranéen, Timone University Hospital, UMR 7268 ADéS, Aix-Marseille University-EFS-CNRS, 13385 Marseille, France
those that presented an “urgent” need, i.e., those whose postponement would result in a significant loss of health, and therefore be much more harmful than the risk of possibly being exposed to SARS-CoV-2 during that particular examination. It is therefore of main importance to consider whether the applications of such recommendations were in agreement with the cardinal principles of medical ethics that include autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. These four principles have been proposed by Tom Beauchamp and James Childress in the late 1970s in their book entitled Principles of Biomedical Ethics [3]. These pillars have an international scope since they respond to fundamental and universal moral expectations of every human being. Therefore, they are valid for everyone, everywhere and at all times, especially during crises. These principles can guide us during ethically challengin
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