Politicians must draw up rules to protect people with disability from being discriminated against if hospitals are forced to carry out triage in the coronavirus pandemic, Germany's constitutional court has ruled.
With the health emergency which began in early 2020 headed for its third year and the Omicron variant raging, fears have grown that hospitals will be pressed to decide who they can save for lack of resources such as ventilators.
Nine people with disability or who are chronically ill brought the case to Germany's Federal Constitutional Court, seeking firm rules should health institutions be forced into triage.
Currently, medical staff have only guidelines to work with.
And a determining factor among the guidelines is physicians' assessment of which patient has the best "clinical prospect of success", in other words, who has the higher probability of survival.
While prioritisation on grounds of disability or inherent illnesses is outlawed under the guidelines, the court acknowledged that there is a risk that they could influence decisions on who has the better chance of surviving.
"It must be ensured that decisions are made solely on the basis of the current and short-term probability of survival," said the court.
"The legislature must ensure ... that any discrimination on the grounds of disability in the allocation of pandemic-related scarce intensive medical treatment resources is prevented with sufficient effectiveness," it ruled.
"It is required to comply with this duty to act without delay by taking suitable precautions."
As new COVID-19 cases soared through November and December, German hospitals have repeatedly warned that they could be overwhelmed.
While none has had to undertake triage, some in the worst-hit regions have had to send patients to other parts of the country for treatment.
