Ethical Resources

Bioethics

Bioethics Legislation in Selected Countries
This report is from the Law Library of Congress website.
Report Summary: "Countries around the world are facing questions about how to balance developments in various areas of biotechnology with concerns about ethics, human health and safety, and the environment. This report examines bioethics-related international instruments and bioethics legislation in ten countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, Israel, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Brazil and Russia." (Quote is from the Law Library of Congress website.)
Hastings Center
"The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit bioethics research institute founded in 1969." (Quote is from the website itself.)

To access the full text of some of the documents, you will need to create a free account when prompted.
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University
This link is for the bioethics section of this website. Santa Clara is a Jesuit/Catholic University.
Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
This Commission "is an advisory panel of the nation’s leaders in medicine, science, ethics, religion, law and engineering. The Commission advises the President on bioethical issues arising from advances in biomedicine and related areas of science and technology." (Quote is from the website itself.)
UNESCO: Bioethics
The Bioethics Programme is a part of the United Nations' UNESCO's Ethics of Science and Technology Programme.

Pros and Cons of Health and Medicine Issues

The links below are all on the Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues website. This website was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the "Top 25 Free Reference Websites of 2011."

The researchers at ProCon.org "research issues that are controversial and important, and ... present them in a balanced, comprehensive, straightforward, transparent, and primarily pro-con format at no charge" with the purpose of providing "resources for critical thinking and to educate without bias." (Quotes are from the website itself.)

Ethics

Health Issues Tracked by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
The American Library Association chose the website of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre as one of the best free sites of 2009.
According to the Centre's website, "Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is the only non-profit organization drawing attention to the human rights impacts (positive & negative) of over 5100 companies, operating in over 180 countries."
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP)
This is a peer-reviewed source that was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the best free sites of 2008.

Of particular interest may be the essays on "Care Ethics," "Medicine, Philosophy of" (with a section on ethics), and "Bioethics."
LegalEthics.com
This is "a web site focused on the ethical issues associated with the use of technology by legal professionals."
"All posts are coded by one or more topics. Select a topic to the right to read relevant posts. Select the “States” topic to see an expanded view of individual topics devoted to each state." (Quotes are from the website itself.)
Medscape Ethics Center
"Medscape from WebMD offers ... health professionals the Web's most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools. After a simple, 1-time, free registration, Medscape from WebMD automatically delivers to you a personalized specialty site that best fits your registration profile." (Quote is from the website itself.)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
This is a peer-reviewed source that was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the best free sites of 2011.

You may enter search terms in the "Search the SEP" box or you may access the "Table of Contents" link and click on the links "Business" under "Ethics" or the links under "Ethics, Biomedical," such as "Advanced Directives," "Clinical Research," "Cloning," "Health," "Donation of Human Organs," "Informed Consent," "Public Health: Ethics," "Sale of Human Organs," and "Stem Cell Research."

Health Information Privacy

"Health Information Privacy" Section of the Website of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
The texts of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the PSQIA Statute and Rule along with information about both documents are included here.
"Health Privacy" Section of the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) Website
Issues covered here include privacy framework, consent, de-identified data, HIPAA, privacy enforcement, personal health records, HITECH/ARRA implementation, and state privacy protections.
Health Information Privacy, Security, and Your EHR
From the "Providers and Professionals" section of the website of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Guide to Privacy & Security of Electronic Health Information
From the "Policy Researchers and Implementers" section of the website of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Section of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
"AHIMA has a myriad of resources addressing privacy, security and confidentiality. Find the information you need to be compliant." (Quote is from the website itself.)
Privacy/Security and Research with Electronic Health Records
Provided through the NIH National Library of Medicine website, this contains information on HIPAA and links to appropriate resources.

Codes of Ethics and Related Resources

Below are three links to the code of ethics and related documents for members of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), "an international professional society of more than 40,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations." (Quote is from the website itself.)

The fourth and final link is to a website with codes of ethics for individual medical professions arranged alphabetically by the names of their professional associations.

Healthcare Executives - Code of Ethics
The ACHE Code of Ethics itself along with links to relevant resources.
Healthcare Executives - Ethical Policy Statements
"The Ethical Policy Statements present ACHE’s position on various ethical issues in healthcare and suggest a standard of behavior for healthcare executives facing these challenges." (Quote is from the website itself.)
Healthcare Executives - Ethics Toolkit
Helpful resources from the ACHE website, including an article that lists the steps to take when making an ethical decision, information on how to use the ACHE Code of Ethics and Ethical Policy Statements, and links to other resources.
Codes of Ethics for Professions in Health Care and Medicine
From the website of the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

In addition to the links for the individual codes of ethics, there are links near the top to other helpful information, such as "Using Codes of Ethics" and "Authoring a Code."

It can be helpful to click on the "Visit Source Page" or "Visit Organization Page" link near the top of each code of ethics to see if a more recent edition has been approved and posted on the specific professional association website.

Evaluation of Internet Sites

Remember to evaluate the information you find when searching the Internet. Not all Internet sites are trustworthy or appropriate to use as research sources. If you have any concerns about the credibility of an Internet site, consult your instructor or a librarian for evaluation assistance.

Tips for Evaluating Sources

Columbia College

Legal and Ethical Aspects of Healthcare - MGMT 353 Resource Guide: Ethical Resources