Task Force on Ethics (TF-E)

 Membership

Aims

• To increase awareness among Laboratory Medicine Professionals of ethical issues
• To encourage the practice of Laboratory Medicine to the highest ethical standards
• To develop guidance documents for member societies on ethics related issues
• To provide a voice for Laboratory Medicine on ethical issues
• To link Laboratory Medicine, ethics and the public interest

Objectives

• Recognizing that IFCC is formed by representatives from Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine in more than 70 countries plus more than 30 corporate members, it is unlikely that the TF can create documents that would be acceptable to all national societies. For that reason, the TF should instead focus on guidance documents to assist member societies to create their own unique policies and statements
• A secondary objective is to ensure that each paper is published in professional journal(s) and that it is also made available to the general public

Background

During the term 1997-1999, the EB of the IFCC accepted the principle of establishing an Ethics Committee. In various parts of the world individual professional organizations have raised awareness of ethics-related issues among their members and have produced documents addressing some of the key issues. Other organizations have not and would like guidance on how to create such documents. In general, the Laboratory Medicine community has not provided organized discussion in which the members can actively participate. There has been even less effort at the international level to create a collective voice for ethical issues in Laboratory Medicine. Laboratory Medicine organizations have a responsibility to advance the interest of their members but the IFCC strategic vision also clearly states that the ultimate goal is to benefit the health and well-being of the patients and communities we serve. This test of our professional responsibility demands that we do not simply perform tests and use technology uncritically. We cannot be isolated from the impact of our work on society.

Resources

The Task Force on Ethics has produced the following documents:

• "Ethical Considerations in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine" (January 2016)

• "Publication Ethics and Ethics in Science" (November 2012)

The group also produced three teaching modules entitled: "Ethics in Laboratory Medicine", "Ethics Education" and "Publication Ethics". These modules are freely available in this website in the eAcademy section http://eacademy.ifcc.org/events/aacc-pearls-of-laboratory-medicine/.

List of Corresponding Members, nominated by National Societies

List of addresses 

Chair

Prof. Ann GRONOWSKI
Department of Pathology & Immunology
Washington University School of Medicine
660 South Euclid Avenue, Box 8118
St. Louis, Missouri 63110
USA
e-mail: gronowski@wustl.edu

Members

Dr Lars BREIMER
Laboratoriemedicinska länskliniken
Kliniskt Kemiskt Lab
USÖ Grev Rosengatan
SE-701 85 Örebro - Sweden

Dr Nilda FINK
Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas,
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas,
Universidad Nacional de La Plata,
Calle 47 y 115, 1900
La Plata - Argentina

Dr. Trefor HIGGINS
Director of Clinical Chemistry
DynaLIFEDx
Canada
e-mail: trefor.higgins@dynalifedx.com

Prof. Christine SEKADDE-KIGONDU
Department of Human Pathology
Unit of Clinical Chemistry
School of Medicine
College of Health Sciences
University of Nairobi
Kenya
e-mail: ckigondu@aar.co.ke

Consultant

Prof. David E BRUNS
Department of Pathology
University of Virginia Medical School
P O Box 800214
Charlottesville , Virginia 22908
USA
email: DEB6J@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu

Prof. Jon J. JONSSON
Division of Biochemistry,
Clinical Biochemistry and
Medical Genetics
University of Iceland Faculty of Medicine
IS-I01 Reykjavik
Iceland
email: jonjj@hi.is