Research and hospital ethics committees in Switzerland

This paper presents the situation concerning research and hospital ethics committees (HEC) in Switzerland. In fact, HECs are almost nonexistent. All the so-called "Ethics Committees" deal with the review of research projects. As there is no legislation governing research on human subjects, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS) has issued guidelines concerning research on human subjects and, more recently, guidelines concerning Research Ethics Committees (REC). There is a wide disparity in the composition and the functioning of these committees, however. Half of them belong to university hospitals. Six of them review two-thirds of all reviewed protocols. Many RECs function more as educational bodies to enhance the quality of submitted protocols than as committees having the task to control and prohibit particular research projects.