Volume 179 - Issue 7
Ethics committees and guardianship legislation
Author: Martin B Van Der Weyden
Med J Aust 2003; 179 (7): 390. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2003.tb05605.x
Published online: 6 October 2003
Published online: 6 October 2003
Martin B Van Der Weyden
Editor, Medical Journal of Australia, Locked Bag 3030, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012. editorialATampco.com.au
Comment: Fielding and Heath raise two issues. The first is the increasing barriers to the conduct of research as the law and Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs) quite rightly ensure the safety of participants in human research. In the words of Cicero, salus populi suprema est lex (“the welfare of the people is the highest law”),1 but the law is not immutable. The confusion uncovered by Fielding and Heath over the implications of the amendment to the Guardianship and Administration Act 1986 may prompt legislators to re-examine the purpose of the Act in the context of research involving patients with “altered conscious state”.
The second issue raised is more general. The plurality of HRECs’ interpretations of the amendment may be difficult to fathom by ordered scientific minds: data are data, so why the differences in HRECs’ opinions? These frustrating differences are the bane of researchers involved in multicentre research.2,3 The 1999 National statement on ethical conduct in research involving humans4 empowers HRECs to minimise duplication and allows for ethical and scientific assessments made by one HREC to be accepted by others.5 Nevertheless, HRECs value their independence and are unlikely to relinquish it to others easily.6 Various states are considering the feasibility of centralised ethical bodies,5 but bureaucracy moves cautiously and change is always slow.
References
- Cicero. De legibus.
- Jamrozik K, Kolybaba M. Are ethics committees retarding the improvement of health services in Australia? Med J Aust 1999; 170: 26-28. CBBCJCDC
- Loblay RH, Chalmers CRC. Ethics committees: is reform in order [editorial]? Med J Aust 1999; 170: 9-10. CBBJFGHD
- National Health and Medical Research Council. National statement on ethical conduct in research involving humans. Canberra: NHMRC, 1999. Available at: www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/pdf/e35.pdf (accessed Sep 2003).
- Breen KJ, Hacker SM. Privacy legislation and research [letter]. Med J Aust 2002; 177: 523-524. CBBGIJBD
- Pearn JH. The realities of ethical review of research in Australia. Med J Aust 1999; 171: 38-39. CBBHHAAF
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