BMA Ethics Committee – no stranger to controversy
BMA Ethics Committee – no stranger to controversy
The BMA Medical Ethics Committee debates issues of principle in medical ethics, medical law and ethical matters concerning the relationship between the medical profession, the public and the state.
The Committee comprises 18 members - doctors, philosophers, lawyers, theologians and lay people. Of these only seven are elected by grassroots BMA members. The remaining eleven are elected or appointed by BMA Council or co-opted. The current chairman is Dr Anthony Calland.
The committee has come under criticism in recent years for its lack of accountability and transparency, for having too close a relationship to the BMA Council and for being out of touch with frontline doctors.
In particular its role in helping move the BMA to a neutral position on euthanasia in at the BMA ARM in 2005 was highly controversial. This position was overwhelmingly overturned the following year by BMA grassroots members who tabled over 20 motions calling for the BMA to resume opposition to euthanasia in June 2006.
The committee's public website was last updated in October 2004.
