Glasa J, Glasova M
Postgraduate Academy of Medicine, Limbova 12, 83303 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
Med Etika Bioet. 2001 Spring-Summer;8(1-2):5-9.
Ethics committees are usually expected to reach and frame their decisions by consensus. In a post-totalitarian society the conception of consensus might somewhat differ from the one present in societies with a long-term, uninterrupted tradition of democratic development. In 1990s, post totalitarian societies of Central and East Europe have been walking difficult paths from the situation, when matters of public interest had been decided almost solely within the structures of a totalitarian power (usually a 'communist' party and by the party dominated governmental or municipal structures) and the political decisions implemented by more or less coercive exercise of that power (while requiring the broadest community attainment--'imposed consensus'); toward societies deciding their fate and matters of public interest via institutions of a modern, pluralistic, parliamentary democracy (subscribing implicitly or even explicitly to consensus, perceived mostly as 'overlapping' or 'procedural'). The paper gives an analysis of evolution of the notion of consensus in the post-totalitarian Slovakia as seen within the frame of the first decade of establishment and work of ethics committees in the institutions of biomedical research and health care. Examples of present challenges for ethics committees' consensual decision making are outlined.
通常期望伦理委员会通过协商一致来做出并阐述其决定。在后极权社会中，协商一致的概念可能与具有长期、不间断民主发展传统的社会中的概念有所不同。在20世纪90年代，中欧和东欧的后极权社会一直在艰难前行，从这样一种状况转变过来：那时公共利益问题几乎完全在极权权力结构（通常是一个“共产党”以及由该党主导的政府或市政结构）内部决定，并且通过或多或少强制行使该权力来实施政治决定（同时要求最广泛的社会群体达成——“强加的共识”）；朝着通过现代、多元、议会民主制度（含蓄地甚至明确地认同共识，大多将其视为“重叠的”或“程序性的”）来决定自身命运和公共利益问题的社会转变。本文分析了在后极权的斯洛伐克，在生物医学研究和医疗保健机构中伦理委员会设立和运作的头十年框架内所看到的协商一致概念的演变。概述了伦理委员会协商一致决策目前面临的挑战示例。
