Abstract

GONZALEZ-BERMEJO, D et al. Healthcare Ethics Committees and Institutional Review Boards in Spain: organization, regulation and functions. Rev. OFIL·ILAPHAR [online]. 2020, vol.30, n.3, pp.206-211.  Epub Apr 05, 2021. ISSN 1699-714X.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/s1699-714x2020000300010.

Recent decades have witnessed major advances in medical science that require a careful ethical reflection, organization and institutionalization of controversial decision-making processes. The Healthcare Ethics Committees (HECs) are independent interdisciplinary bodies to provide support in ethical dilemmas in healthcare settings, ensuring that patients are informed about their treatments and procedures and make their own decisions. The Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are focus on the rights and welfare of the potential participants in the research. Nevertheless both HECs and IRBs play an important role in promoting respect and protection of dignity and human right in an attempt to achieve health equity and social justice. The regulation of HECs and IRBs provides an appropriate framework to address new scientific challenges in the field of health. Nevertheless the large number of local, regional and national HECs and IRBs in Spain might compromise the efficiency in the assessment procedures leading to duplication of reports and inconsistent opinions. In this article a review and description of the different HECs and IRBs in Spain is performed and relevant issues related to their organization, regulation and functions are also analyzed.

Keywords : Bioethics; Ethics Committee; Clinical Ethics Committee; Hospital Ethics Committee; Institutional Review Board; Research Ethics Committee.

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