BMA annual representative meeting: BMA ethics committee exonerated
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
The BMA抯 annual meeting defeated a proposal from the Birmingham division that there should be a debate at the annual meeting before public policy statements were issued on contentious issues on which no BMA policy existed.
Dr Greg Gardner, a GP from Birmingham, cited the submission to a parliamentary select committee on the working of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, in which the BMA said that the authority provided a good model for regulation in the area and that the BMA favoured artificial reproduction for same sex couples.
"The ethics committee may be in close touch with the HFEA , but it is out of touch with ordinary BMA members," he said.
He also criticised the comments made about the withdrawal of treatment that had caused concern among disabled people. A member of the ethics committee had told a House of Commons committee that infanticide was not always wrong.
There was a general feeling that the committee lacked transparency and was remote from the membership.
But Dr Gardner was opposed by all the other speakers. Dr Tony Calland, a member of the ethics committee, said that the committee was one of the jewels of the BMA. "The knowledge, experience, and wisdom of the invited members is second to none." It would emasculate the work of the committee if it had to wait months to debate an issue, he said.
A past member of the committee, Dr Jan Wise, said that it had produced "a stunning range of advice." Four whole time researchers worked for the committee, and briefing papers were continually emailed to the members. "It is transparent, it is influential, and it promotes the association fantastically well," she said.(BMJ Linda Beecham)
Dr Greg Gardner, a GP from Birmingham, cited the submission to a parliamentary select committee on the working of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, in which the BMA said that the authority provided a good model for regulation in the area and that the BMA favoured artificial reproduction for same sex couples.
"The ethics committee may be in close touch with the HFEA , but it is out of touch with ordinary BMA members," he said.
He also criticised the comments made about the withdrawal of treatment that had caused concern among disabled people. A member of the ethics committee had told a House of Commons committee that infanticide was not always wrong.
There was a general feeling that the committee lacked transparency and was remote from the membership.
But Dr Gardner was opposed by all the other speakers. Dr Tony Calland, a member of the ethics committee, said that the committee was one of the jewels of the BMA. "The knowledge, experience, and wisdom of the invited members is second to none." It would emasculate the work of the committee if it had to wait months to debate an issue, he said.
A past member of the committee, Dr Jan Wise, said that it had produced "a stunning range of advice." Four whole time researchers worked for the committee, and briefing papers were continually emailed to the members. "It is transparent, it is influential, and it promotes the association fantastically well," she said.(BMJ Linda Beecham)