Abstract
Four years ago we changed the composition of the institutional research review committee and broadened its mission to include consultation and discussion of ethical issues in clinical care. The committees' name was changed to the Human Rights Committee. Its membership consists of 7 physicians including a geneticist and a behavioral scientist, representatives from the hospital administration, nursing service and housestaff and 3 laymen without an institutional allegiance (currently these are a housewife, an Episcopal minister and a lawyer from Neighborhood Legal Services).
The committee continues to review all clinical research proposals to assure that the rights of the children are protected. In addition it is available on 24-hour call to consult on and advise with ethical issues. Examples include discontinuation of life support, limitation of therapy in profoundly brain-damaged children, and withholding surgery in children with associated conditions where similar surgery would be performed in normal children. The committee's activities have been enthusiastically accepted by the hospital staff. Furthermore, in-house publication of these activities has brought increasing awareness of these important issues at all levels from medical students to the Board of Trustees.
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Oliver, T. 498 DEALING WITH ETHICAL ISSUES IN A CHILDRENS HOSPITAL. Pediatr Res 12 (Suppl 4), 446 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00503
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00503