Bottom-line pain

Businesses, as they cast about for relief from the rising costs of employee health care, are trying to reform the medical marketplace as an alternative to calling on the federal government to impose a cure.

Committees and commissions in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom there have been few committees or commissions dealing specifically with biomedical ethics, and where such bodies have been set up they have merely reported on a specific topic and then disbanded. However, there may well be standing committees in the future, of which the Voluntary Licensing Authority for Human In Vitro Fertilisation and Embryology is a precursor. This paper surveys the work of three special committees or working groups which have reported in the period 1970 to the present. Of these the Warnock Committee is by far the most important, and the issues which it raises are discussed with specific reference to the place of philosophers and theologians on such bodies. It is concluded that, although there has been some movement in the UK toward the utilization of those with special skills and knowledge in the field of bioethics, much more could be done in this regard.

Australian commissions and committees on issues in bioethics

We examine the role of Australian state and federal committees and law reform commissions in bioethics. Most have been concerned with in vitro fertilization and embryo research. We find deficiencies in the standards of reasoning about the underlying ethical issues raised by these techniques. We suggest stronger representation of those with a background in ethics.

Commissions and biomedical ethics: the Canadian experience

Canadians frequently have recourse to public commissions as a means of dealing with contentious public policy issues. This essay examines the role of philosophers and philosophy in nine such commissions, all of which have dealt with issues in biomedical ethics. The principal findings of this essay are that philosophers have not been used extensively by these commissions, and that the philosophical aspects of the issues under investigation have been dealth with quite inadequately. The essay concludes with suggestions for an expanded role for philosophers in such commissions.

The President's Commission: the need to be more philosophical

This paper argues, contrary to what has sometimes been claimed, that public commissions need to be more philosophical than they have been in analyzing crucial bioethical issues. It argues (a) that the failure of the President's Commission to develop and use even simple distinctions between life and personhood led to flaws in both its discussion of death and its discussion of persistent vegetative patients, and (b) that its treatment of access to health care fails to develop a coherent approach precisely because it is based on no serious philosophical reflections about justice in health care.

Ethics committees in France

Leading biologists and physicians in France have been considering bioethical problems for several decades. In 1983 an important new forum for bioethical discussion in France was created, with the establishment of the Comité Consultatif National d'Ethique pour les Sciences de la Vie et de la Santé (C.C.N.E.). This committee has produced numerous important opinions and reports on such topics as research involving human subjects, fetal tissue research, and the new reproductive technologies. At the local level the discussion of bioethical questions is carried on by ethics committees, which are charged with the responsibility of reviewing research protocols.

Aging and developmental disabilities: interagency planning for an emerging population

In 1987 the Indiana Task FOrce on Aging and Aged Persons with Developmental Disabilities was formed to address interagency planning and public policy issues related to this newly emerging population. Data were collected from major state agencies now serving either the aged or individuals with developmental disabilities to assess the portion of the population currently receiving services. These data were compared to population projections for 1990. Service needs in health care, residential services, day programming, and other support areas were identified. We discuss direct planning outcomes and indirect process outcomes related to increased interaction among state-agency employees.

Profile of the GMC. Medical education and the GMC: controlled or stifled?

Images

Profile of the GMC: The day of judgment comes closer

Images