The Medical Council is to overhaul its ethical guidelines that currently ban embryo experiments. The new rules, which will affect medical research into stem cells and gene therapy in Ireland, are expected to be presented to the IMO general council within the next six weeks, The Irish Times has learned.
A Medical Council sub-committee is currently drafting the council's sixth Guide to Ethical Conduct and Behaviour.
The ethics committee chairwoman, Senator Geraldine Feeney, said she could not say if the new guidelines would result in a sweeping ban on such research, or would provide some room for embryo experimentation. The draft guidelines would have to be presented to the Medical Council before any comment could be made.
The Medical Council is also expected to have its first meeting with the Irish Council for Bioethics before the final guidelines are agreed. The Medical Council is keen to ensure that conflicting guidelines are not issued by both organisations. The Irish Council for Bioethics began its work in May 2002, with a remit to devise an acceptable ethical framework for a range of research areas.
The Medical Council wants to ensure that there will be no duplication between the organisations and that the division of responsibilities is clear.
The Government-established Commission on Assisted Reproduction is also due to issue its report on embryo research and cloning shortly.
Ms Feeney said there had been many new developments since the Medical Council's last ethics guide was published in 1998.
Neither stem cell research nor gene therapies were specifically referred to in that guide.
A section on reproductive health stated that "the creation of new forms of life for experimental purposes or the deliberate and intentional destruction of human life already formed is professional misconduct".
Another paragraph limited the manipulation of sperm or eggs to the "improvement of health".
"However, if the intention is not so directed or is the creation of embryos for experimental purposes, it would be professional misconduct," the guide stated.
The production of a new ethical guide is one of the duties of each medical council. The guide will be published before the current council ends its five-year term of office next April.
The new guide will also look at the role of the Internet in making medical diagnoses.
There has been a major increase in the number of websites offering medical diagnoses and selling drugs in recent years. Many of these are American, and some seek subscription fees or once-off payments for making a diagnosis.
The Irish Medical Organisation has already warned consumers to steer clear of websites seeking money in exchange for a diagnosis.
It also warned against buying medication off websites and said people had no idea what they were buying. The Medical Council is expected to state that the same ethical principles apply to doctors whether they operate on the Internet or from a surgery.
The British General Medical Council's ethical guidelines state that doctors who wish to provide online services "should consider carefully whether such a service will serve their patients' interests and, if necessary, seek advice from their professional association or medical defence society".
Ms Feeney said the new guide would also take a detailed look at the issue of consent. The medical profession would have to ensure that a patient was fully informed before giving consent for a procedure or test.
The 45-page guide would address a very wide range of issues, she said, "as every medical issue you can think of has an ethical component".
Ms Feeney, the IMC's first lay committee chairperson, said she was also determined to ensure that the new guide would be written in an accessible and user-friendly way.