[Current trends in biomedical ethics in the United States of America]

In the United States, contemporary biomedical ethics began to develop in the 1960s, together with the advent of major advances in basic research and clinical application and the establishment of health care entitlement programs. Problems of a moral nature promptly arose in the fields of biology and medicine that have generated ongoing debate. Today, the five topics of greatest importance are the rights and autonomy of the patient, the meaning of the "sanctity of life" as opposed to the "quality of life," interventions in nature, the allocation of resources, and the function of the public in decision-making about health. Ethics committees have been set up in 60% of hospitals to examine the most difficult problems and provide pertinent advice. Another trend that may be very significant in the future is a politicization of bioethical questions and a division into factions that will introduce political rhetoric into the field of medicine.