Healthcare Quarterly

If the H1N1 pandemic worsens, there may not be enough ventilated beds to care for all persons with respiratory failure. To date, researchers who explicitly discuss the ethics of intensive care unit admission and the allocation of ventilators during an influenza pandemic have based criteria predominantly on the principles of utility and efficiency, that is, promoting actions that maximize the greatest good for the greatest number of people. However, haphazardly applying utility and efficiency potentially disadvantages marginalized populations who might be at increased risk of severe reactions to H1N1. In Canada, Aboriginals represent 3% of Canadians, yet 11% of H1N1 cases requiring hospitalization involve…