Minutes of Council meeting held on 21 March 2007
Fri, 27 April 2007
Council (07) 2nd Meeting
NUFFIELD COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS
Minutes of the Meeting held at 28 Bedford Square London WC1B 3JS on 21 March 2007 at 10.30am
PRESENT
Professor Sir Bob Hepple QC FBA (Chairman)
Professor Sir Kenneth Calman
Lord Richard Harries
Professor Peter Harper
Professor Ray Hill
Professor Søren Holm
Dr Rhona Knight
Professor Peter Lipton
Professor Alison Murdoch
Dr Bronwyn Parry
Professor Hugh Perry
Professor Nikolas Rose
APOLOGIES
Professor Roger Brownsword
Professor Sian Harding
Mr Anatole Kaletsky
Professor Sir John Krebs
Professor Lord Raymond Plant
Professor Peter Smith
SECRETARIAT
Hugh Whittall, Dr Catherine Moody, Harald Schmidt, Carol Perkins and Caroline Rogers
The Chairman welcomed the new member, Professor Ray Hill to his first meeting. He also welcomed Hugh Whittall to his first meeting as Director.
This would be the last meeting for the Deputy Director, Dr Catherine Moody and on behalf of the Council the Chairman expressed thanks for her work and many contributions to the Council.
MINUTES OF (06) 2nd MEETING
1 It was agreed that the Minutes were an accurate record of the meeting held on 18 January 2007.
MATTERS ARISING
2 There were no matters arising not dealt with as items on the agenda.
CHAIRMAN’S ITEMS
APPOINTMENT OF A REPLACEMENT FOR THE DEPUTY DIERCTOR
3 The Director reported that there had been a very good response to the advertisement and the interviews were due to take place on 26 March.
MEMBERSHIP Council (07) 11
4 The Chairman introduced this paper and after some discussion it was agreed that the advertisement should be placed in July and the Panel meet in September, prior to the October Council meeting.
5 It was suggested that the advert should contain a statement to the effect that the areas advertised would be broadly construed so as not to discourage potential applicants who may label their expertise in a particular way. Members agreed that applications should be sought in the areas of molecular biology, philosophy, political science and public health. It was agreed that the advert should specify that female applicants and those from minority ethnic backgrounds were encouraged.
MAIN BUSINESS
FORWARD LOOK LECTURE AND SEMINAR Council (07) 12
6 The Director reported that the Forward Look seminar would focus on two topics: implications of the human genome project, and the rationing of healthcare resources. It was noted that time for discussion of other topics on the horizon was also included in the draft programme which was agreed. Briefing materials and a list of possible future topics would be provided to Council members and other participants in advance of the meeting. Members were asked to let the Secretariat know of any suggestions for the list of possible future topics.
WORKING PARTY ON PUBLIC HEALTH: ETHICAL Council (07) 13
ISSUES
7 The Assistant Director introduced this paper and informed members that the Report had been sent to peer review between 9 February and 9 March. The comments of six peer reviewers had been circulated, together with a summary of their comments. One further response was tabled, and a further three were still to be received.
8 Members discussed the points raised by the peer review comments and the Assistant Director asked members to consider setting up a subgroup which would be responsible for providing more detailed input at the crucial period before the June Council meeting.
WORKING GROUP ON BIOINFORMATION FOR Council (07) 14
FORENSIC PURPOSES
9 This session was chaired by Professor Peter Lipton. The Chairman of the Council, in his capacity as Chair of the Working Group, summarised the progress so far. The Working Group had met on 16 March when the draft Discussion Paper had been discussed and as a result, was now in the process of being substantially revised. The public consultation had received 140 responses, a summary of which was included as an annex to the draft Discussion Paper. A number of fact finding meetings had been held and the list of peer reviewers had been finalised. Draft recommendations had been discussed during the meeting of the Working Group on the 16 March and would be finalised in the coming weeks. Members were invited to comment on the draft Discussion Paper.
10 A sub-group of Council members agreed to review the Discussion Paper, in the first instance while it was being peer reviewed in April, and for a second time during a week at the end of May/early June.
WORKSHOP ON NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASESCouncil (07) 15
11 A workshop on ethical issues arising from neurodegenerative diseases of the CNS took place on 7th March 2007. Attendees contributed expertise in ethics, law, medicine, social science and the perspectives of patients and their carers. A draft note of the meeting was tabled.
12 Members commented that the workshop had been a success, with many interesting questions raised. The importance of the topic was not in question, given the severity and increasing incidence of neurodegenerative diseases in older people. However, if it were to establish a Working Party to examine this issue, the Council would need to select areas where a distinctive contribution could be made. It was agreed that the clear emphasis of the future report should be upon ethics, as was the case for the report on public health. The Council was unlikely to make a major difference to the medical and scientific questions raised, and so these should not be a major part of the eventual report.
13 After further discussion, the Council decided to proceed with a new Working Party to explore the topic in more detail. Council was invited to send in suggestions for possible members. It was agreed that the terms of reference and suggestions for membership would be reviewed at the June Council meeting.
14 It was agreed that the following topics raised in the workshop were relevant, including:
• the capacity to consent to treatment
• the capacity to consent to participate in research
• what is meant by ‘incapacity’
• education and information
• understanding risk
• decision making in different cultural contexts
• economic issues
• the perspective of carers.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
TRILATERAL MEETING WITH CCNE AND NE 2007 Council (07) 16
15 The Director reported that the date of the trilateral meeting had been previously agreed as 4 June 2007. Members’ attention was drawn to the draft agenda for the meeting which was agreed. It was noted that the arrangements for the meeting were currently been discussed with the CCNE and the NE and there was now some uncertainty about the meeting going ahead on 4 June. It was agreed that if the meeting did need to be rearranged it should be as a trilateral involving both organisations.
REACHING OUT TO YOUNG PEOPLE Council (07) 17
16 Professor Kenneth Calman introduced this paper and reported that the Reaching out to Young People (ROYP) Advisory Group had met on 18 January when the main business had been to discuss a set of educational materials on the issues raised by animal research. It was proposed by the ROYP Group that Jenny Wales, who had produced the materials and was a member of the Advisory Group and Director of Education for Citizenship at the Nuffield Foundation, should be invited to give a presentation on this work at the Council meeting in October.
17 It was explained that the Council had been invited to collaborate with a new web based educational resource, subject to funding. The content of the website would be based on the Council’s Reports and it would be asked to play an advisory role. Members agreed that this was an excellent opportunity to disseminate the work of the Council in an educational and professional manner.
18 Professor Calman raised the need to consider finding a new Chair for the ROYP Advisory Group as he would be leaving the Council in January.
TO REPORT
WORKING PARTY ON CRITICAL CARE DECISIONS IN FETAL AND NEONATAL MEDICINE: ETHICAL ISSUES Council (07) 18
19 The Deputy Director outlined recent developments in the follow up of this report, which had been downloaded from the website nearly 11,737 times by 26 February 2007. An html version was now available and the short version would be ready in early April. Members noted that further publicity had been generated for the report by the announcement in the press of the birth in the USA of Amillia Taylor, born at 21 weeks 6 days. Working Party members had provided interviews and commentary.
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR YEAR TO 30 NOVEMBER Council (07) 19
20 The Management Accounts for the period up to 31 December 2006 were received and noted.
COUNCIL’S REVISED WORK PLAN FOR Council (07) 20 2007
21 The Council’s revised Work Plan was received and noted. November.
QUARTERLY BULLETIN Information (07) 03
22 This paper was noted.
WEB REPORT Information (07) 04
23 The web report figures were noted.
Last Updated Fri, 27 April 2007