Compulsory medical intervention versus external constraint in pandemic control

Would compulsory treatment or vaccination for Covid-19 be justified? In England, there would be significant legal barriers to it. However, we offer a conditional ethical argument in favour of allowing compulsory treatment and vaccination, drawing on an ethical comparison with external constraints&am...

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Main Authors: Douglas, T, Forsberg, L, Pugh, J
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020
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author Douglas, T
Forsberg, L
Pugh, J
author_facet Douglas, T
Forsberg, L
Pugh, J
author_sort Douglas, T
collection OXFORD
description Would compulsory treatment or vaccination for Covid-19 be justified? In England, there would be significant legal barriers to it. However, we offer a conditional ethical argument in favour of allowing compulsory treatment and vaccination, drawing on an ethical comparison with external constraints—such as quarantine, isolation and ‘lockdown’—that have already been authorised to control the pandemic. We argue that, if the permissive English approach to external constraints for Covid-19 has been justified, then there is a case for a similarly permissive approach to compulsory medical interventions.
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spelling oxford-uuid:b19a9df9-6c6a-45e4-8a73-47e38d140b6e2022-03-27T04:05:27ZCompulsory medical intervention versus external constraint in pandemic controlJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b19a9df9-6c6a-45e4-8a73-47e38d140b6eEnglishSymplectic ElementsBMJ Publishing Group2020Douglas, TForsberg, LPugh, JWould compulsory treatment or vaccination for Covid-19 be justified? In England, there would be significant legal barriers to it. However, we offer a conditional ethical argument in favour of allowing compulsory treatment and vaccination, drawing on an ethical comparison with external constraints—such as quarantine, isolation and ‘lockdown’—that have already been authorised to control the pandemic. We argue that, if the permissive English approach to external constraints for Covid-19 has been justified, then there is a case for a similarly permissive approach to compulsory medical interventions.
spellingShingle Douglas, T
Forsberg, L
Pugh, J
Compulsory medical intervention versus external constraint in pandemic control
title Compulsory medical intervention versus external constraint in pandemic control
title_full Compulsory medical intervention versus external constraint in pandemic control
title_fullStr Compulsory medical intervention versus external constraint in pandemic control
title_full_unstemmed Compulsory medical intervention versus external constraint in pandemic control
title_short Compulsory medical intervention versus external constraint in pandemic control
title_sort compulsory medical intervention versus external constraint in pandemic control
work_keys_str_mv AT douglast compulsorymedicalinterventionversusexternalconstraintinpandemiccontrol
AT forsbergl compulsorymedicalinterventionversusexternalconstraintinpandemiccontrol
AT pughj compulsorymedicalinterventionversusexternalconstraintinpandemiccontrol