Characteristics of oncological care in the reality of COVID-19 pandemic: views of a lawyer and a clinician

The past 2019 and the beginning of 2020 were remembered as the beginning of the spread of the threatening human civilization of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 infection (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, that threatens human civilization. In connection with the epidemic, which quickly turned into a pandemic, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international significance, with high risks at the global level. Despite the growing incidence and spread of COVID-19 in our country, ensuring the protection of patients» rights is still one of the priorities of public health. It is necessary to assess the extent to which the re-profiling or introduction of an anti-epidemic regime in medical institutions that provide cancer care restricts the rights of patients whose guarantees, despite the pandemic, are enshrined in current legislation.

The aim of the study is to analyze the legislation on restricting the rights of patients in connection with the threat of spread of COVID-19, evaluate the effectiveness and validity of re-profiling and switching to an anti-epidemic mode of operation of medical institutions that provide cancer care.

It is noted that any legal prohibitions and restrictions must be justified by the purposes for which they are established, be scientifically justified and not violate the human rights and freedoms proclaimed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Measures taken by the state to contain the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic should be necessary to prevent or eliminate possible harm, if this cannot be done by other means and if the harm to the rights of citizens is the least possible.

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