“A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems that it creates is a decadent civilization.” Aimé Césaire wrote this in his critique of colonialism. Close examination of the legacy of colonialism helps explain the disparate impact of the current healthcare crisis based on race and class. The sick and dying in the US are [...]
Legal Commentary
In a time where people are getting seriously ill and dying (and not from a zombie apocalypse), society is faced with the moral question of whether we should release individuals from jails so that we can protect them from contracting, and dying from, COVID-19. It is no secret that jails are a hotspot for COVID-19 [...]
Members of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable communities are at risk of losing access to essential legal services in the face of the unprecedented public health crisis, economic turmoil, and social disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Graduating law students could help fill this growing need, but it is unclear whether we will be given the [...]
The novel coronavirus has disrupted the lives of billions globally. In the United States, as Americans shelter in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, so too stop the “normal” functions of the country. Americans are being laid off and filing for unemployment benefits at the highest levels ever recorded. Nearly 40,000 people who seek [...]
The coronavirus pandemic has created a cascade of horrible effects. As of April 10, there have been half a million cases and 18,000 deaths in the United States (1.5 million cases and over 100,000 deaths worldwide). The pandemic has also created widespread economic hardship, with 17 million Americans newly unemployed within the past three weeks. And [...]
“At the beginning of the pestilence and when it ends, there’s always a propensity for rhetoric….It is only in the thick of a calamity that one gets hardened to the truth, to silence.” – Albert Camus, The Plague Trump presidential debilities are more serious than simple policy missteps or errors. This administration is far more [...]
The cult horror film classic, Zombieland, begins two months after a virus turns people into zombies that overrun the US. The lead character learns how to stay alive by living by a code of rules he has created to survive the Zombie Apocalypse. The rules are practical. For example, Rule No. 1 stresses the importance [...]
Introduction Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory disease caused by a newly discovered form of Coronavirus. There is currently no vaccine or any other medicine discovered for the treatment of COVID-19. The first case of COVID-19 was identified in China during November, 2019. COVID-19 has now spread across more than 200 countries affecting more than [...]
The Crisis The COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that insufficient resources exist to combat the likely tidal wave of hospital admissions will force unprecedented decisions to be made in Canada. This article recommends bioethical and legal guidelines intended to assist those responsible for the allocation of ICU beds and mechanical ventilators. Whether or not to [...]
As the saying goes, “history repeats itself.” In 2002, the SARS epidemic spread from the Guangdong province of China and affected 29 nation-states by the year 2003. There were 774 human casualties from the disease. The world realized this loss of human life could have been avoided had China not suppressed vital public health information [...]