Bioethics in Chile: present and future status.

Chile's health system has been evolving rapidly in recent years. Among other things, profit-making enterprises have assumed a growing role, medical care has become increasingly technical, and the importance of less highly trained health workers has grown. Also, the assigned role of the Chilean Medical Association in deciding matters of medical misconduct has diminished, while that of the courts has grown; the nature of the doctor-patient relationship has changed; and clear divergences between medical ethics codes, laws, and prevailing social practices have emerged. Within this context, bioethics has come to be regarded as a necessary element in the teaching and practice of medicine. So while this discipline has not yet become fully institutionalized in Chile, it seems likely to play a growing role in dealing with the aforementioned changes and could make a substantial contribution toward solution of associated problems in the future.