Health system under the empire of management
On March 12, 2020, the President of the French Republic, announcing on television, we would have to be locked down because of the Covid-19 pandemic, declared that the « absolute priority » was to protect the most vulnerable people. That priority, unfortunately, had to be carried out in a context of shortage, caused by the neoliberal policies of budgetary restrictions. Very quickly, caregivers were obliged to select among sick people who would have access to intensive care. Despite the reaffirmation, by the National Consultative Ethics Committee, of the absolute dignity of the human person, and the impossibility to distinguish patients according to their social utility, caregivers had to establish admission criteria to intensive care on a basis of recommendation from the Regional Health Agency. Testimonials from caregivers and official texts show that in the event of a crisis, health care provision for everybody, regardless of age or previous state of health is not very compatible with the managerial design of the health system.