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Article: Institutional ethics committee and case consultation: is there a role?
- Article from:
- Issues in Law & Medicine
- Article date:
- June 22, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent & Disabled, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the brave new world of modern American medicine, institutional ethics committees (IECs) have taken hold. The number of hospital ethics committees has grown dramatically over the past ten years. In 1981, Dr. Stuart Youngner surveyed 602 U.S. hospitals, and only 1% reported having an IEC, (1) whereas by 1990, the American Hospital Association (AHA) estimated that more than 60% of all U.S. hospitals had formed IECs. (2) In addition, in 1987, Maryland became the first state to enact legislation that requires all hospitals to establish patient advisory committees, (3) and in 1989 Senator Danforth (R., Missouri) introduced legislation to Congress entitled the "Patient ...