Electronic Precinct - February 1996

INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE LAW AND BIOETHICS

Sir Donald Wilson

Medical ethics has become the stuff of every day debate; rarely a day passes without the media raising ethical dilemmas posed by medical practice. From the harvesting of eggs from aborted fetuses to determining when life support should cease, bioethics is front page news.

The Institute of Medicine, Law and Bioethics (IMLAB) was launched on Tuesday 16 January. The Institute, which is receiving initial joint funding of £500,000 from North West Regional Health Authority and the Universities, is a collaborative venture between Liverpool University and the University of Manchester. The collaboration is the first of its kind in the country in the field of research and will have a department on each campus.

Medical claims have risen dramatically along with greater public expectations of health care and the way that care is provided. This means that resources used to fund claims are clearly not available for patient care, whilst the fear of legal action may be producing defensive practice not in the best interests of patients.

These, and other dilemmas facing doctors and other health professionals today, such as advances in technology and how best to use resources against the background of an increasingly ageing population, form part of new research projects to be undertaken by the newly formed Institute, which is set to become a world class centre of excellence as an authoritative body on medico-legal, bioethical and public health issues.

It will endeavour to seek solutions to these and a range of other problems to bring about real benefits to the NHS with the promotion of safe, ethical and cost effective practice by: establishing a research programme to promote knowledge and understanding which can be shared nationally and internationally; raising awareness of legal and ethical issues in medical practice through regional and national training programmes for health care and legal professionals; building on existing acclaimed research programmes at both Universities with the development of postgraduate and undergraduate teaching in the field of medicine, law and ethics; and establishing an organisation which will be equipped to respond to ethical and other challenges presented by medical advancements and which can be a source of expertise for national, international and professional bodies.

The Institute will also look at a wide range of other issues such as transplants and organ donation, forensic pathology and DNA testing, the regulation of drugs, complaints procedures, animal research and the impact of the European Union on the provision of healthcare.

European Commission funding is also being made available to study the ethical problems concerned with the issues around reproductive choice and the problems presented by communicable diseases, such as HIV and AIDS, lifestyle and environmental health

February 1996 Index