Ethics committees

Abstract

Ethics committees (ECs) are a relevant body for dealing with ethical issues in healthcare. They born in order to resolve dilemmatic situations. Contemporary ECs are independent standing committees with multidisciplinary representation, including medicine, nursing, social work, law, pastoral care, healthcare administration, and other different expertises. The functions of ECs are various: estimating clinical trials; analyzing ethically relevant clinical cases; drafting hospital/organizational guidelines, and to carry out education activity. The composition and kind of skills requested in an EC could change according to national laws. About international ethical standards in clinical experimentation, the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki is the reference according to which examining clinical trials by ECs.