Alison Healy
The Irish Medical Council will continue to ban embryo experimentation by the medical profession, according to draft ethical guidelines being prepared by the body.
The guidelines will be presented for approval to the council before the end of this month and should win widespread support.
They are expected to state that the creation of embryos for experimental purposes is professional misconduct. They will also say that the deliberate or intentional destruction of such embryos would render a doctor guilty of professional misconduct.
This would rule out the cultivation of embryonic stem cells for research purposes.
Stem cells are of interest to medical researchers as they have the potential to grow into any of the 210 cell types found in the body and may be of value in treating certain medical conditions.
The council regulates the medical profession in this State and last issued its Guide to Ethical Conduct and Behaviour in 1998.
Each council updates the guide during its term of office, and the current council will publish its guide before it steps down this spring.
Neither embryonic stem-cell research nor gene therapies were specifically referred to when the last guide was produced six years ago.
A brief section on reproductive medicine reminded doctors of their obligation to preserve life and promote health and ruled out embryo experimentation.
That section has now been extended, and the new guide will carry specific headings on gene therapy and genetic testing.
The guidelines are expected to be published around the same time as the Commission on Assisted Reproduction makes its report to the Government.
This Government-established body will make recommendations on what rules and regulations should surround issues such as embryo research, cloning, in-vitro fertilisation and artificial insemination.
This is bound to ignite some controversy on the issue as it will be the first official set of recommendations on assisted reproductive issues.
The Government is viewing the report as "the first statement of public debate" on the matter. The report is expected to be completed in March.
Meanwhile, as reported in The Irish Times in December, the Medical Council has also considerably strengthened its ethical guidelines covering so-called whistle-blowing.
This is seen as a direct consequence of the Dr Michael Neary case. The former Drogheda-based obstetrician was struck off the medical register last year for unnecessarily removing the wombs of 10 patients.
In November Judge Maureen Harding Clark was appointed to chair an inquiry into the manner in which the consultant had treated his patients.
The draft guidelines place a strong onus on medical colleagues to actively intervene when they perceive a risk to a patient because of professional incompetence.
The new code of ethics will also focus on the importance of getting a patient's full and informed consent for procedures and tests.
There will be a renewed onus on doctors to ensure that patients truly understand what they are consenting to and that they are not pressurised into making a decision in an unnecessarily rushed manner.
The guidelines will also address new and emerging issues, such as GPs providing online services.
The Medical Council is expected to state that the same ethical principles apply to GPs whether they operate from a surgery or an Internet site.