[The Council for Medical Ethics 1985-2001].

BACKGROUND

The Council for Medical Ethics of the Norwegian Medical Association was founded in 1961. The council, made up of five physicians, is elected by the Representative Body of the Association for four years.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This article presents the work of the council from 1985 to 2001. We examined all written reports; all cases were coded in the same manner as in a previous evaluation.

RESULTS

The types of complaints and the council's response to them were not different from the pre-1985 period. 300 complaints of violations of physicians' code of ethics were reviewed, 60% of them brought before the council by physicians or by branches of the medical association. Issues related to medical certificates, confidentiality and advertisements were the most frequent. Eight physicians were expelled from the Association, all of them general practitioners, psychiatrists or gynaecologists. Financial or sexual exploitation were the most prevalent causes of expulsion.