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COVID‐19, rationing and the right to health: can patients bring legal actions if they are denied access to care?
Author(s) -
Gunn Michelle A,
McDonald Fiona J
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/mja2.50952
Subject(s) - excellence , declaration , rationing , library science , citation , covid-19 , law , political science , sociology , health care , medicine , computer science , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
As health providers worldwide respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians and communities are asking questions about who will be given access to scarce healthcare resources. While resource allocation decision-making frameworks have been developed, or adapted, to govern the unprecedented impacts of the pandemic, access to healthcare may, now and in the future, be restricted in ways previously unimaginable. While the broader community may accept the need for rationing, individuals denied COVID-19 or other care might look to the law to protect their interests. Clinicians may have questions about any legal consequences of denying patients access to health services. This article explores the nature of health rights in Australia and the difficulties in bringing legal cases that challenge resource allocation decisions during a pandemic or its aftermath.

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