Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine, Manchester, UK and University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine, Manchester, UK and University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Clin Med (Lond). 2020 Sep;20(5):e163-e164. doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0388. Epub 2020 Jul 3.
Widespread testing for the respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) will represent an important part of any strategy designed to safely reopen societies from lockdown. Healthcare settings have the potential to become reservoirs of infectivity, and therefore many hospital trusts are beginning to carry out routine screening of staff and patients. This could promote the effective cohorting of patients and reduce the rate of nosocomial infection. However, for various reasons, some individuals may refuse this testing. Here we highlight this as an emergent ethicolegal issue which we expect to become increasingly relevant as testing becomes ubiquitous. We explore this position from an ethical and legal perspective, determining whether refusal of testing is acceptable under UK law. Individual patients refusing testing could undermine a hospital's testing strategy; therefore clinicians and policy makers must prospectively determine the best course of action if this were to occur.
广泛检测呼吸道综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）将成为任何旨在安全解除封锁以重新开放社会的策略的重要组成部分。医疗机构有可能成为感染源，因此许多医院信托基金开始对员工和患者进行常规筛查。这可以促进对患者的有效分组，并降低医院感染率。但是，由于各种原因，有些人可能会拒绝这种检测。在这里，我们将其强调为一个新兴的伦理法律问题，我们预计随着检测的普及，这个问题将变得越来越重要。我们从伦理和法律的角度探讨了这个立场，确定了在英国法律下拒绝检测是否可以接受。拒绝检测的个别患者可能会破坏医院的检测策略；因此，如果发生这种情况，临床医生和政策制定者必须前瞻性地确定最佳行动方案。
