Research report 2020 - Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law
The dilemma of triage
Authors
Hörnle, Tatjana
Departments
Abteilung Strafrecht
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has at times made it impossible to treat every patient with a life-threatening illness. There are no laws on triage. Which selection criteria – such as age or the likelihood of successful treatment – are appropriate and permissible, and who gets to determine them, is a highly controversial issue. What are the regulations in German constitutional and criminal law? Is ex-post triage a criminal offence? We have reviewed such ethical and legal questions with experts from several disciplines