Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12202/5645
Title: COVID-19 Ventilator Crisis: Comparative Ethical Analysis of Jewish and Secular Approaches to Scarce Resource Allocation
Authors: Berman, Saul
Frohlich, Bailey Abigail
Keywords: Senior honors thesis
COVID-19
COVID-19 ventilator crisis
scarce resource allocation
Mishna Horiyot
Jewish medical ethics
medical ethics
life-saving resources
secular triage principles
Issue Date: 22-Mar-2020
Publisher: New York, NY. Stern College for Women. Yeshiva University.
Citation: Frolich, Bailey Abigail. COVID-19 Ventilator Crisis: Comparative Ethical Analysis of Jewish and Secular Approaches to Scarce Resource Allocation Presented to the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Completion of the Program. NY: Stern College for Women. Yeshiva Universitym March 22, 2020. Mentor: Rabbi Saul J. Berman, Jewish Studies.
Abstract: This paper will explore the different perspectives of Jewish and Secular ethics regarding triage decisions, specifically comparing and contrasting the two perspectives as it is relevant to the COVID-19 ventilator shortage. Firstly, I will present an overview of the four foundational principles that underpin secular triage ethics and how they are incorporated into existing hospital and institution-based resource allocation guidelines. I will then comprehensively examine the Jewish perspective of triage, which is based on a wide array of sources from the Talmud, Rishonim, early Acharonim and contemporary poskim. An understanding of two halakhic principles, pikuach nefesh and ain dochen nefesh mipnei nefesh, is necessary to appreciate the delicate balance between the individual and community that the Talmud and poskim try to make when considering triage dilemmas. This paper will highlight the various streams of thought within the halakhic literature, many of which closely parallel the aforementioned secular principles. Although each system is grounded in a different set of core values, the practical solution to ventilator allocation dilemmas is quite similar according to Jewish and secular principles
Description: Senior honors thesis. Open Access.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12202/5645
Appears in Collections:S. Daniel Abraham Honors Student Theses

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