Utah pandemic guidelines exclude some disabled children

Utah guidelines for who gets admitted to hospital or transferred to critical care during an influenza pandemic exclude children with chromosome disorders like Trisomy 13 and 18; spinal muscular atrophy; and progressive neuromuscular conditions such as muscular dystrophy "with inability to sit unaided or ambulate when such abilities would be developmentally appropriate based on age."

"Physician Norman Foster agrees it is reasonable to allocate scarce care based on a person's underlying cognitive abilities," according to this Salt Lake Tribune article, which includes comment from the mother of a 10-year old daughter with Trisomy 18.

The Utah guidelines evoke some of the same concerns raised in this recent BLOOM guest blog by Dr. Dick Sobsey.