Genetic medicine: Polish deontological guidelines and the ethical practice of research studies with children

The purpose of the article is: (1) to describe deontological guidelines which regulate medical research involving human subjects in Poland, and (2) to clarify the understanding of the fundamental ethical concepts presented in these documents. To do this, two main documents are analysed: (1) the Polish Medical Ethics Code, which was approved by the 7th Extraordinary National Doctors' Convention in September 2003 after a long and difficult process of revision, and (2) the Good Practice in Science, a set of rules concerning scientists, approved by the Committee of Ethics of the Polish Academy of Science in 2001. The pluralism of contemporary ethics and of medical ethics in particular, results in various interpretations of the understanding of the crucial terms used in the deontological statements of these codes. The paper suggests that clarity in the understanding of the terms may be achieved by exploring the 'intellectual' context in which the analysed documents have been appearing and in which they are presently functioning. In order to examine such a context, the following aspects are taken into account: (1) the development of bioethics as a discipline in Poland, (2) international deontological documents which are universally accepted and are in use in Poland, (3) legal regulations regarding medical research involving persons which are currently in force in Poland, and (4) the practice of Polish Institutional Review Boards (IRBs).