The cure: is it a question of merit?

Abstract

The SIAARTI document "Recommendations of clinical ethics for admission to intensive treatments and for their suspension" has stimulated mixed reactions. In the background emerge the "tragic decisions" that clinicians may be required to take: which patients to accept and which to reject in intensive care units, which the epidemic has revealed to be less than required. Particularly, clinicians are invited to reflect on the concept of responsibility in choices. With regards to an ethical responsibility we are facing a medico-legal interpretation, which translates into the explanation of the criteria with which choices are made and the assumption of their moral weight. This scenario of tragic choices confirms the intuition contained in the mythological figure of the "wounded healer".