{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T16:16:53Z","timestamp":1780676213974,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]],"date-time":"2025-10-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761091200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]],"date-time":"2025-10-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761091200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Bioethics"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The COVID\u201019 pandemic was a devastating worldwide event with great consequences on medical and surgical care that has not been fully evaluated. The pandemic caused an imbalance between rapidly increasing patient needs and limited hospital resources such as staff, personal protective equipment (PPE), and open beds. As a result, surgeons in the United States were encouraged or required to postpone \u201cnon\u2010emergent\u201d operations, including some cancer surgeries, in March of 2020. Resource allocation during the pandemic focused on the needs of the community to accommodate potential surges, and cancer patients needing \u201cnon\u2010emergent\u201d operations had operations delayed. This paper is an ethical analysis based on the review of the literature covering a range of topics from known harms due to certain operation delays, to COVID\u201019 caseloads, to triage ethics. The key surgery types examined were cancer surgeries for a wide range of organ systems. Many mandates for suspension of surgical care came from the national level without consideration of the local COVID\u201019 caseload, which was variable. It could be argued that the physical and mental harm sustained by patients whose disease progressed as a result of surgery delay outweighed the benefits of preserving resources, particularly in the regions with low COVID volumes. This paper uses the principles of medical ethics within a public health framework to examine the ethical issues surrounding the cancellation of oncologic surgeries and makes recommendations for times of future resource strain.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/bioe.70039","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]],"date-time":"2025-10-22T11:05:38Z","timestamp":1761131138000},"page":"194-200","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Non\u2010Emergent Oncologic Surgery Cancellation During the COVID\u201019 Pandemic: A Risk\u2013Benefit Analysis"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"40","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1315-6819","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samantha R.","family":"Scott","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Albany Medical College Albany New York USA"},{"name":"Alden March Bioethics Institute Albany New York USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Megan","family":"Applewhite","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Chicago Department of Surgery Chicago Illinois USA"},{"name":"MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics Chicago Illinois USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wayne","family":"Shelton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Albany Medical College Albany New York USA"},{"name":"Alden March Bioethics Institute Albany New York USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","unstructured":"\u201cCancer Statistics \u201d National Cancer Institute [Internet] 2015 https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/about-cancer\/understanding\/statistics."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","unstructured":"\u201cCDC: COVID\u201019 Was 3rd\u2010Leading Cause Of Death in 2020 \u201d People of Color Hit Hardest [Internet] NPR.org accessed June 3 2021 https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/coronavirus-live-updates\/2021\/03\/31\/983058109\/cdc-covid-19-was-3rd-leading-cause-of-death-in-2020-people-of-color-hit-hardes."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_4_1","unstructured":"\u201cWHO Coronavirus (COVID\u201019) Dashboard\u201d [Internet] accessed November 17 2023 https:\/\/covid19.who.int."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_5_1","unstructured":"\u201cACS Releases Recommendations for Surgical Management of Elective Operations During COVID\u201019 Pandemic \u201d [Internet] American College of Surgeons accessed January 23 2021 https:\/\/www.facs.org\/media\/press-releases\/2020\/covid-031320."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13037-020-00235-9"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_7_1","unstructured":"\u201cPrioritizing the Rest of Health Care in a Public Health Crisis\u201d [Internet] American Medical Association accessed February 8 2021 https:\/\/www.ama-assn.org\/delivering-care\/ethics\/prioritizing-rest-health-care-public-health-crisis."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/medethics-2020-106446"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2022.27443"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_10_1","unstructured":"\u201cCutting Through the COVID\u201019 Surgical Backlog \u201d McKinsey [Internet] accessed October 17 2022 https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/healthcare-systems-and-services\/our-insights\/cutting-through-the-covid-19-surgical-backlog."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_11_1","unstructured":"\u201cCoronavirus: What People With Cancer Should Know \u201d National Cancer Institute [Internet] 2020 accessed June 3 2021 https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/about-cancer\/coronavirus\/coronavirus-cancer-patient-information."},{"key":"e_1_2_9_12_1","unstructured":"A.KoloffandS.Fallon \u201cCoronavirus canceled her chemotherapy. 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