The United Kingdom has many bodies that play their part in carrying out the work of national ethics committees, but its nearest equivalent of a U.S. presidential bioethics commission is the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, established in 1991. The Council is charged with examining ethical questions raised by developments in biological and medical research, publishing reports, and making representations to appropriate bodies in order to respond to or anticipate public concern. It is a nongovernment organization with no defined or guaranteed (...) channels of influence. It has no authority merely by virtue of the position it holds. Rather, it has established relational authority based on its reputation. Unlike the U.S. bioethics commission, it is not part of executive government, nor is it constituted to contribute to the legislative branch, as does the French Comité Consultatif National d'Ethique. Its nongovernmental status notwithstanding, the Nuffield Council's work affects the U.K. government and the British public, and the Council has achieved international recognition for its reports. I was the chairperson from 2012 to 2017 and draw on my experience in this piece to consider three key audiences: governments, publics, and the international community. (shrink)

W pierwszej części artykułu charakteryzuję trzy rodzaje profesjonalizmu lekarskiego: profesjonalizm tradycyjny, odnowiony i kompleksowy. Omawiam także czynniki kulturowe, ekonomiczne i aksjologiczne wpływające na ich kształtowanie się. Stawiam tezę, że profesjonalizm kompleksowy ze względu na jego skomplikowanie i arbitralne wyodrębnianie elementów składowych jest nieprzydatny w edukacji moralnej studentów i lekarzy. W części drugiej rekonstruuję wady i zalety profesjonalizmu tradycyjnego i odnowionego. Uzasadniam pogląd, że najważniejsza zaleta profesjonalizmu wynika z jego ambiwalencji moralnej. Nie traktuję więc tej dwuznaczności jako wyłącznie wady. Lekarz profesjonalista (...) powinien mieć świadomość jasnych i ciemnych stron profesjonalizmu oraz umiejętność właściwego ich ważenia w danych okolicznościach – poszukiwania Arystotelesowskiego złotego środka. W ostatniej części argumentuję za umiarkowanie optymistycznym przekonaniem o przydatności profesjonalizmu tradycyjnego i odnowionego w moralnym formowaniu studentów medycyny i młodych lekarzy. (shrink)

Ethical review and analysis of health policy may help to ensure policies address the needs of society and align with relevant values and principles. Indeed, researchers and bioethicists have recognized the need for ethical frameworks specifically for public health applications. The objective of this research was to compile structured tools for ethical review of health policy and to analyze these tools for their scope and philosophical underpinnings. A systematic search and review of academic and grey literature was conducted to compile (...) existing tools designed for health policy ethics review. The search yielded 13 health policy ethical review tools. Qualitative content analysis revealed that all of the tools were influenced by multiple ethical values and that a majority were influenced by more than one ethical theory. The most common values were non-maleficence and beneficence. The most common influencing ethical theory was the Principles Approach. The structure of the tools demonstrates a heterogeneity of methodology designs to approach policy ethics review. This research offers a unique contribution to the bioethics field that provides a useful resource and understanding of the current ethical review tools for health policy. (shrink)