ABSTRACT
The problem of changing the civil status of transsexuals has been tackled in different ways in various European countries. Six applications made by transsexuals have led to judgments by the European Court of Human Rights. These cases illuminate some specific aspects of the relationships between health, law, and human rights, including criteria used to determine gender and the impact of authorities' refusal to modify civil status, which may be seen as violating the right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment; respect for the private and family life of transsexuals; and the right to marry. Only one Court decision found a State party (France) to be in violation of the ECHR for refusing a transsexual the right to change civil status. This judgment, however, has left open a number of outstanding issues.
Subject(s)
Human Rights/legislation & jurisprudence , Transsexualism , Europe , Female , Humans , International Cooperation , Male , Marriage/legislation & jurisprudence , Privacy , Transsexualism/therapySubject(s)
Reproductive Techniques , Ethics, Medical , Female , Humans , Male , Reproductive Techniques/legislation & jurisprudence , SwitzerlandSubject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/prevention & control , Global Health , Health Policy , Human Rights/legislation & jurisprudence , Internationality , Prejudice , AIDS Serodiagnosis/legislation & jurisprudence , Communicable Disease Control/legislation & jurisprudence , Consensus , Government Regulation , Humans , Mandatory Programs , Social Control, Formal , SwedenABSTRACT
The atrocities of Nazi doctors as revealed by the Nuremberg trial caused the World Medical Association in 1948 to formulate a modernized version of the Hippocratic Oath. The author discusses particularly the notion of Humanity, newly introduced in this so-called Oath of Geneva: contradictions may arise between medical interests and criteria of humanity, which make it necessary to draw limits.
Subject(s)
Ethics, Medical/history , Hippocratic Oath , Political Systems/history , History, 20th Century , SwitzerlandABSTRACT
Eight research protocols which had previously been approved by Ethical Research Committees (ERCs) were reviewed in simulated review committees set up during a symposium on medical ethics. Only three protocols were considered to provide fully adequate information to allow ethical review and only one protocol was thought to provide sufficient guarantees on the ethical issues raised by the proposed research. For five other protocols additional safeguards were considered necessary, in particular covering the problem of informed consent. Two protocols were considered to raise unresolvable ethical issues. This artificial exercise does not establish that review by ERCs is ineffective. It does highlight the lack of objective criteria in ethical review. Peer review by exchange of protocols between ERCs could assist in increasing the consistency in the application of ethical standards.