Guidelines and Policies
Australia
AMA Code of Ethics
Australian Medical Association
The AMA Code of Ethics articulates and promotes a body of ethical principles to guide doctors’ conduct in their relationships with patients, colleagues and society.
Code of Professional Conduct: Good Medical Practice [PDF] NSW
Medical Council of NSW
Outlines the duties of a doctor registered with the NSW Medical Board, including maintaining professional competence, what to do if things go wrong or when a patient dies.
Ethical Behaviour in General Practice Cth
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Ethics: A manual for consultant physicians
Royal Australasian College of Physicians 1999
Good Medical Practice: A code of conduct for Doctors in Australia All
Australian Medical Council
Sets out the principles that characterise good medical practice and makes explicit the standards of ethical and professional conduct expected of doctors by their professional peers and the community.
Guidelines on Public Comment by Hospital Doctors Cth
Australian Medical Association
The AMA maintains that all doctors have an obligation to speak out when they believe that the quality of patient care is compromised.
NHMRC
Provides guidelines for ethical practice in areas including post-coma unresponsiveness, organ donation, privacy and genetic testing as well as links to legislation and reports.
Health and research ethics guidelines
NHMRC
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Code of Ethics [PDF]
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
Standards for General Practice Cth
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
“The RACGP Standards for general practices (4th edition) are designed to keep Australian general practice at the heart of an effective and efficient Australian health care system. The Standards are based on a framework of good governance – a framework which ultimately makes all members of the general practice team accountable for patient safety and high quality clinical care.”
Canada
Code of ethics
Canadian Medical Association
UK
A practical guide to clinical ethics support
UK Clinical Ethics Network
Good Medical Practice
General Medical Council
Good Medical Practice sets out the principles and values on which good practice is founded; these principles together describe medical professionalism in action. The guidance is addressed to doctors, but it is also intended to let the public know what they can expect from doctors.
List of ethical guidance
General Medical Council UK
USA
AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics
American Medical Association code of ethics
Others
A Guide to Bioethics Resources on the Web
Guide to Health Care Schools
Provides links to a large number of bioethics websites from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia.
Bioethics Legislation in Australia
Southern Cross Bioethics Institute
Code of Ethics for the New Zealand Medical Profession
New Zealand Medical Association
Currently valid guidelines
Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences
Medical Ethics Manual
World Medical Association
Legislation
Australia
Australian Legal Information Institute (Austlii)
Comprehensive Free Source of Australian legal material – all legislation, court and tribunal cases and a selection of journal articles, law reform reports, treaties and so forth.
UK
BioethicsWeb
British and Irish Legal Information Institute
Open access to UK legislation and case law.
Medical ethics
British Medical Association
Organisations
Australia
Australian Health Ethics Committee
Advises the NHMRC on ethical issues relating to health and developing human research guidelines.
Australian Medical Association (AMA)
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is the peak membership organisation representing the registered medical practitioners (doctors) and medical students of Australia.
Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law
The Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law (AABHL) is Australia and New Zealand’s leading organisation concerned with issues of bioethics and health law.
Clinical Ethics
NSW Department of Health
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is Australia’s peak body for supporting health and medical research.
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Provides guidelines for ethical practice in areas including post-coma unresponsiveness, organ donation, privacy and genetic testing as well as links to legislation and reports.
New South Wales Health Services
Ethics & Health Law News
NHMRC publications
NHMRC
Canada
Canadian Bioethics Society
Providing a range of relevant information, this site is intended as a resource for current and future members of the CBS, as well as for any other individuals or organizations interested in bioethical issues.
Canadian Legal Information Institute
Open access to Canadian legislation and case law.
Joint Centre for Bioethics
University of Toronto
A partnership between the University of Toronto and affiliated healthcare organizations. The JCB studies important ethical, health-related topics through research and clinical activities.
Provincial Health Ethics Network (PHEN) Canada
The Provincial Health Ethics Network (PHEN) of Alberta is a non-profit organization which provides resources on addressing ethical issues related to health.
University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB)
The University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) is a partnership between the University of Toronto and affiliated healthcare organizations.
USA
ABP bioethics bibliography
American Board of Pediatrics
American Academy of Pediatrics
Related Links
American Medical Association
Has resources on Medical Ethics.
American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
The purpose of ASBH is to promote the exchange of ideas and foster multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and interprofessional scholarship, research, teaching, policy development, professional development, and collegiality among people engaged in all of the endeavors related to clinical and academic bioethics and the health-related humanities.
Center for Bioethics
University of Pennsylvania
Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at the Medical College of Wisconsin
The Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at the Medical College of Wisconsin, established in 1982 as one of the first centers of its kind in the nation, was created to nurture a multidisciplinary approach to the complex challenges facing health care professionals, patients, and policy makers.
Ethics Committees and Ethics Consultation
Ethics in Medicine of University of Washington School of Medicine
External Organizations’ Policy Statements and Other Reports
American Academy of Pediatrics
Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics
The mission of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics is to conduct advanced scholarship on the ethics of clinical practice, biomedical science, and public health, both locally and globally, and to engage students, trainees, the public, and policy-makers in serious discourse about these issues.
Kansas Health Ethics (KHE) EUA
The mission of Kansas Health Ethics is to provide education about the essential role of health ethics in quality of life decision making.
MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics
University of Chicago
National Center for Ethics in Health Care’s
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The Hastings Center
The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit bioethics research institute founded in 1969. The Center’s mission is to address fundamental ethical issues in the areas of health, medicine, and the environment as they affect individuals, communities, and societies.
The Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research
The Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), established in 2007, is one of 55 medical research institutions working together as a national consortium to improve the way biomedical research is conducted across the country.
UK
British Medical Association: MedicalEthics
British Medical Association
Comprehensive resource of publications, guidelines and toolkits on medical ethics issues.
UK Clinical Ethics Network
Provides up to date information on ethical issues commonly present for clinical ethics committees and links to national policy and guidance on ethical issues.
Top ten ethics enquiries
British Medical Association
Others
Asian Bioethics Review
Podcast Library
Bioethics.com
A global information source on bioethics issues and news.
Clinical Ethics
HNE Health
Clinical Ethics Research at Ethox
Ethox
Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences
CIOMS
General Medical Council (GMC)
Interactive case studies
International Association of Bioethics
The International Association of Bioethics aims to be truly international, linking all those working in bioethics and related fields, facilitating mutual contact, and encouraging the discussion of cross-cultural aspects in bioethics.
International Bioethics Committee (IBC)
UNESCO
Medical Council of India (MCI)
The Medical Council of India (MCI) is a statutory body with the responsibility of establishing and maintaining high standards of medical education and recognition of medical qualifications in India – Code of Ethics Regulations, 2002 (Amended up to December 2010).
Medical Ethics
World Medical Association
Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy
The Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy is dedicated to the three-fold mission of research, education, and service. The Institute serves the students and faculty of the Stritch School of Medicine, healthcare professionals and patients of Loyola University Health System, and professionals from the regional community and across the nation.
Nuffield Council on Bioethics
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is an independent body that examines and reports on ethical issues in biology and medicine. It was established by the Trustees of the Nuffield Foundation in 1991, and since 1994 it has been funded jointly by the Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.
TED.com
The website is provided as a public service to promote the spread of good ideas. It welcomes anyone willing to join it in this pursuit.
UCLA Panel on Science and Ethics of Animal Research
[Vimeo] by Dario Ringach
UNESCO International Bioethics Committee
The International Bioethics Committee (IBC) is a body of 36 independent experts that follows progress in the life sciences and its applications in order to ensure respect for human dignity and freedom. It was created in 1993.
World Legal Information Institute
World Health Organisation: Ethics
Includes a newsletter, ethics standards and a link to the Department of Ethics, Trade Human Rights and Health Law.
World Medical Association
The World Medical Association (WMA) is an international organization representing physicians.
Papers, Reports and Books
Australia
Australian Health Law Bulletin
Provides latest information and analysis on developments in health law. 10 issues annually.
Ethics and law for the Health Professions 2009
Authors: Ian Kerridge, Michael Lowe, Cameron Stewart
A cross-disciplinary book covering the spectrum of health care. Useful as both a teaching resource or handbook for those working within the medical profession.
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
Discussion and debate on ethical, cultural and social issues arising in medicine, the health sciences and health care in general.
Journal of Law and Medicine
Publishes articles that concern legal, medical and bioethical issues.
The Australian Medico-Legal Handbook
Authors: Cameron Stewart, Ian Kerridge, Malcolm Parker
A handbook with accompanying PDA software is a practical resource for medical professionals, JMOs, students and nurse practitioners giving answers to most frequently asked legal questions arising in medical practice complete with case examples and references.
UK
British Medical Journal
International peer reviewed medical journal
Clinical Ethics ejournal
The Royal Society of Medicine Press Ltd
An online journal about all aspects of ethics in research, policy and health care delivery.
Mason and McCall Smith’s Law and Medical Ethics
Kenyon Mason, Graeme Laurie
Provides an overview of ethical medical practice and the law.
Medical Ethics Today: The BMA’s handbook of ethics and law, 2nd Ed.
British Medical Association
Provides practical advice on day-to-day issues arising in medical practice as well as some of the more obscure dilemmas that may arise.
USA
American Journal of Bioethics
AJOB
The aim of AJOB and their website bioethics.net is to provide the clinical, legal, academic, scientific, religious and broad community-at-large with up to date, comprehensive debate on issues in bioethics.
Bioethics Book Lists
American Academy of Pediatrics
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics
Quarterly Journal designed to address the challenges of biology, medicine and healthcare and to meet the needs of professionals serving on healthcare ethics committees in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and rehabilitation centres.
Journal of Clinical Ethics
Written for and by physicians, nurses, attorneys, clergy, ethicists, and others whose decisions directly affect patients.
Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics
American Society for Law, Medicine and Ethics
Articles on public health, health disparities, patient safety and quality of care, biomedical science and research.
Hastings Centre Report
The Hastings Centre
Explores the ethical, legal and social dimensions in health care, medicine, public health and life sciences.
Resources for Health Care Professionals
Bioethics Research Library at Georgetown University
Virtual Mentor
American Medical Association
An open access online medical ethics journal. explores the ethical issues and challenges that students, residents, and other physicians are likely to confront in their training and daily practice. The journal is student and resident driven.
Others
Bioethics
International Association of Bioethics
Articles on ethical questions raised by current issues, eg clinical research in developing countries, organ transplants, genomics, stem cell research, ageing etc.
BMC Medical Ethics
Biomed Central
Open access journal on ethical aspects of biomedical research and clinical practice.
Critical Care Medicine
Society of Critical Care Medicine
A journal covering all aspects of acute and emergency care for the critically ill or injured.
Developing World Bioethics
International Association of Bioethics
Provides case studies, teaching materials, original articles, legal backgrounds and new in brief on bioethics in developing countries.
Healthcare Ethics Committee Forum (HEC Forum)
An Interprofessional Journal on Healthcare Institutions’ Ethical and Legal Issues.
Journal of Medical Ethics
BMJ
International Journal covering the entire field of medical ethics, in both scientific research and medical practice.
Medical Law Review
Source of reference for academics, lawyers, legal and medical practitioners, law students, and anyone interested in healthcare and the law.
Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy
European Society for Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care
Philosophy, Ethics and Humanities in Medicine
Articles on the philosophy of medicine and biology, and on ethical aspects of clinical practice and research.
RSM Press Journals
Clinical Ethics
The Journal of Clinical Ethics
The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine
(1982) NEJM 306(11):639-345
Author: EJ Cassel
This article offers a description of the nature and causes of suffering in patients undergoing medical treatment, drawing a distinction between physical pain and suffering. Doctors have an obligation both to relief suffering and cure disease.
News Reports
Australia
ABC News Online: Health
Most recent stories on Health from the ABC news service.
Croakey
The Croakey blog is a forum for debate and discussion about health issues and policy.
Ethics and Health Law News
News service providing links to latest news, journal articles and case law in ethics and health law.
Medical Ethics
ABC
The Australian: Health and Science
News stories on Health and Science
Multimedia
Australia
The Australian Doctor
A News and Information website for Australian General Practitioners.
Courses
Master of Bioethics Program
University of Pennsylvania
Master of Dispute Resolution
Charles Sturt University
Online Graduate Programs in Bioethics & Health Policy
Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy
Program on Ethics in Clinical Practice (PoECP) of Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics
The Program on Ethics in Clinical Practice (PoECP) aims to foster excellence in education, research and service related to ethics issues in clinical practice at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and beyond.
