Ethics committee : their nature and function

Abstract

My knowledge of Ethics Committee's (E. C.) is based on four experiences: the organisation of the International Seminar on Ethics Committee's, Milano, 1986. the Ethics Committee at San Raffaele, the first such Committee established in Italy in 1985. my membership in the Ethics Committee at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, a highly scientific public hospital. and the recent experience in the Council of Europe as representative of the Ministry for Social Policy in CAHBI. When we talk about EC we are talking about ourselves, for tomorrow we may need the support of an EC. Prof O'Connell has defined the term bioethics and likewise it is important to described what EC's are. What is their objective? \\'hat is their methodology? How do they function on a national or hospital level? How are they formed?