Exploring Ethics — The journal Health Affairs recently published a paper, "Given Financial Constraints, It Would Be Unethical to Divert Antiretroviral Drugs from Treatment to Prevention," by Drs. Ruth Macklin and Ethan Cowan, in which they make the point that recent advances in HIV prevention have set up an ethical dilemma concerning whether limited resources and supplies of lifesaving antiretroviral medications should be divided between treatment and prevention. After exploring several ethical principles used in formulating public health policy, the duo concludes that it would be unethical to allow patients with treatable AIDS to have their conditions worsen and possibly die, even with supportive care, so that medications for treatment can be diverted for prevention. Dr. Macklin also was among those to give a featured presentation during a special briefing hosted by the journal on July 10, in Washington, DC. She is professor of epidemiology & population health and the Dr. Shoshanah Trachtenberg Frackman Faculty Scholar in Biomedical Ethics. Dr. Cowan is assistant professor of emergency medicine and of epidemiology & population health.
Posted on: Monday, August 06, 2012