Experiences with committees dealing with the issues of ethics

Ethics committees have been active in Germany for 15 years now. Since 1983, such committees, which were established under public law with medical schools, medical associations and representatives of the Federal Health Office among their members, have established a working group with a growing membership of currently some 45 committees. The group's functions include the exchange of experience, the discussion of relevant ethical issues as well as the harmonization and standardization of their internal procedures. In addition, it serves as a point of contact for members of Parliament. Government and journalists. Since 1990, the group has published four yearbooks under the title of 'Medizin-Ethik' [1]. Germany's ethics committees are bodies serving no other purpose than that of biomedical research on human beings (scientific experiments, diagnostic and therapeutic methods, clinical trials involving drugs). They are intended to protect test persons and patients against acts which must not be permitted for ethical and/or legal reasons. Ethics committees fulfil the task of counselling the medically responsible researcher and of examining in advance whether relevant scientific, legal, medical and ethical standards will be met by the biomedical project envisaging scientific research on human beings and whether such a project will not violate accepted values. The ethical and legal standards to be adhered to in this connection have been laid down in the declaration issued by the World Medical Association in Helsinki/Tokyo/Venice/Hong Kong, they have been codified in human rights declarations and in a great number of national legal provisions and have been included in scientific standards.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)