The COVID-19 pandemic has created or highlighted key bioethics issues that face our healthcare system and society at large. On this page, IU Center for Bioethics faculty and staff provide their analysis of the challenges emerging from COVID-19 and possible solutions.
Recent Additions
Center Faculty and Staff Write about COVID-19
Dr. Mary A. Ott: Clinician Perspectives on Ethics and COVID-19: Minding the GAP in Sexual and Reproductive Health
Dr. Aaron Carroll: Stop Expecting Life to Go Back to Normal Next Year
Selected Readings
Social Disparities
Coronavirus is hundreds of times more deadly for people over 60 than people under 40 (Nir Menachemi)
Public Health
A National Survey Assessing SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Intentions: Implications for Future Public Health Communication Efforts ( Katharine Head, Monica Kasting, Lynne Sturm, Jane Hartsock, Gregory Zimet)
Center Faculty Speak about COVID-19
The center provides video series on different ethical perspectives on the challenges of COVID-19. For more news on these events, please visit the IUCB calendar.
Dr. Aaron E. Carroll
Dr. Aaron E. Carroll, Faculty Investigator at the IU Center for Bioethics and Professor of Pediatrics at IU School of Medicine, releases videos every week on his YouTube channel, Healthcare Triage. During the pandemic he and his team are answering questions and busting myths using scientific research and medical expertise.
Watch latest Covid-19 video:
COVID-19 and Immune Symptoms in Kids - June 4, 2020
Your Coronavirus Questions Answered - March 19, 2020
Ask Aaron- Back to Campus Edition - August 12, 2020
Ask Aaron - Faculty and Staff - July 30th, 2020
Dr. Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds
COVID-19 and the Black Community
Dr. Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds, faculty investigator at the Indiana University Center for Bioethics, and Assistant Dean for Diversity Affairs at the IU School of Medicine, spoke with WFYI to explore how COVID-19 is impacting the black community in Indianapolis. Listen Here
Dr. Mary Ott, faculty investigator at IU Center for Bioethics and Professor of Pediatrics at IU School of Medicine, recently presented a TREATs Talk (Translational Research Ethics- Applied Topics). Her presentation, "Ethics of Virtual Engagement and Data Collection" explores ethical issues associated with increased online health appointments in the time of COVID-19. Watch Dr. Ott's presentation here and then visit the channel page to see the rest of our library.
Dr. Peter Schwartz
Dr. Peter H. Schwartz is the Director of the IU Center for Bioethics and Associate Professor of Medicine at IU School of Medicine. He directs the Bioethics and Subject Advocacy Program
(BSAP) of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) and co-leads the Behavioral Science and Ethics cluster of the IU Precision Health Initiative. He recently participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Online Ethics Center of the National Academy of Engineering. The diverse panel members, including distinguished bioethicist and NYU School of Medicine faculty Arthur Caplan, discussed the pros, cons, and Ethics of Challenge Studies, Avalanche Testing and other Approaches to Vaccine Development [Webinar].
Center Faculty and Staff Write about COVID-19
IUCB Blog
IUCB faculty and staff have been using our blog platform to respond to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic through the lens of a bioethics framework. Topics covered include ethics of allocation, lessons from quarantine about isolation and connection, ethics of government and public response, and ethical violations of lock down orders. We will continue throughout the pandemic and beyond to respond to relevant topics on this site.
Dr. Ross D. Silverman, JD, MPH
Ross D. Silverman, JD, MPH, faculty investigator at the IU Center for Bioethics, Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI, and Professor of Public Health Law at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law recently published a Perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine with co-authors titled Ensuring Uptake of Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Although a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 is months to years away, they offer a framework to ensure adequate vaccine uptake when it is released and argue that state policy makers should apply such policies now.
Dr. Aaron E. Carroll
- We made a Mistake With Masks. Now it could be tests.
- When Can Grandparents Meet the Newborn?
- ¿Cuándo pueden los abuelos conocer al recién nacido?
- The Coronavirus Has Made It Obvious. Teenagers Should Start School Later.
- We Need 1 Million Tests a Week
- Don't Halt Social Distancing: Do it right
- This is How We Can Beat the Coronavirus
Dr. Colin Halverson
Professors Halverson (Bioethics) and Wilson (Medical Genetics) lay out practical and ethical issues encountered in the world of direct-to-consumer genetic testing that suggest potential pitfalls and work-arounds for the rollout of direct-to-consumer COVID testing
Topics and Reading from Center Faculty and Staff
In this section, IU Center for Bioethics faculty and staff share articles that address important topics related to bioethics and the COVID-19 pandemic. This section is updated regularly as new articles and topics come up, so bookmark the page and return regularly for new articles and discussion.
The world is facing unprecedented challenges in coping with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The best way forward, internationally, nationally, and locally, will be through implementation of robust public health policies that are based on the latest scientific evidence. With these policies, though, come essential bioethical questions.
A National Survey Assessing SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Intentions: Implications for Future Public Health Communication Efforts ( Katharine Head, Monica Kasting, Lynne Sturm, Jane Hartsock, Gregory Zimet)
Why COVID-19 immunity passports may violate US law (Seema Mohapatra, The Conversation)
TheEthicsofCOVID-19Immunity-BasedLicenses("ImmunityPassports11 (Govind Persad & Ezekiel J. Emanuel, JAMA)
Immunity Passports and Moral Hazard (Daniel Jacob Hemel & Anup Malani, University of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper No. 743)
Ten reasons why immunity passports are a bad idea (Natalie Kofler & Franc;oise Baylis, Nature)
A National Survey Assessing SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Intentions: Implications for Future Public Health Communication Efforts ( Katharine Head, Monica Kasting, Lynne Sturm, Jane Hartsock, Gregory Zimet)
The tragic history of racial mistreatment and bias in the US has always affected healthcare and research involving people of color. These disparities are now contributing to the disproportionate rates of death faced by Black Americans.
Other Resources from the Center and Beyond
Regenstrief Dashboard
Dr. Peter Embi, Associate Dean for Informatics and Health Services Research, IUCB faculty investigator, and President and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, joined his colleagues in creating the Regenstrief Dashboard- an Indiana specific dashboard to track COVID-19 related cases, hospitalizations, and mortality. The information is separated by demographic and regional information.
Indiana CTSI COVID-19 Daily Digest
A partnership between the Indiana CTSl's Monon Collaborative and the Indiana FSSA to engage Indiana's nationally-recognized academic experts to evaluate and inform Indiana practices, programs, and policies.
WHO Global Health Ethics, Resources on Ethics and COVID-19
Links to statements by national ethics committees, international organizations, and national bodies and professional associations about the ethics of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Toolkit: Bioethics Resources for COVID-19
Bioethics.net has collected blog posts, resources, guidelines, and other information for people dealing with COVID-19.
Social Media
Follow our social media pages to keep updated with the center's ongoing efforts to lead an ethical response to the COVID-19 pandemic.