Learning Center

In general, a physician should not refuse a patient simply because the individual is not vaccinated or declines to be vaccinated.

Public health containment strategies can raise concerns about appropriately balancing individual rights with protecting the health of the community.

Physicians who engage public's health concerns through the media have an obligation to uphold the ethical standards of the profession.

Decisions to allocate scarce resources should not be based on non-medical criteria, such as judgments about a patient’s social worth.

Search for effective treatments can move swiftly during a pandemic as researchers and institutions mount studies to test plausible therapies.

Physicians’ dual obligations to serve both the well-being of their individual patients and that of other patients and the community at large come into sharp tension in a public health emergency.

Physicians have a well-recognized duty to provide care even at risk to oneself during a public health emergency.