Smer’s report on assisted dying now available in English
Smer has published an English translation of the council's inventory of the current knowledge on assisted dying.
Smer calls for the government to review the current legislation on gene technology
Since the Genetic Integrity Act (2006:351) came into force 2006, new technologies have been developed that are not covered by the law. According to Smer, there is a need for a national strategy for the field of gene technology in order to promote an ethically sustainable and safe developement where respect for human dignity is preserved.
New report: The Quantifed Human. Ethical aspects on self-monitoring by wearables and health apps
New report from the council on June 14, 2017. In this report, the Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics (Smer) summarises the project it initiated on self-monitoring using wearable technology and health apps.
The European Commission has officially re-launched the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) by appointing 15 high-calibre members. One of our expert members, Nils-Eric Sahlin, Professor of Medical Ethics, Lund University, is amongst the appointed members.
Two new Smer comments published
The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics has published two new comments: one regarding care of intersexual children, and the other fetal reduction.
Current work: a factual report concerning assisted death
In the Swedish media there is an ongoing debate over autonomy at the end of life and whether assisted death in any form should be legalized. Smer is currently working on a factual report concerning assisted death.
The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics arranges the seminar “Neuroethics: Deep Brain Stimulation” on the 16th of March at the Riksdag.
Watch lectures from Ethics Day 2016
The theme for the conference was “Self-determination, physician assisted dying and care at the end of life”. Among the participants were professors Wayne Sumner and Anthony Back who gave presentations concerning physician-assisted suicide in Canada and in the United States.
Ethical assessments at the border between health and medical care and research
The Swedish Council on Medical Ethics has today published a report concerning innovative therapies offered within clinical practice as a treatment outside a research protocol.
A summary of the report will be published in English shortly.
Opinion on the use of medical methods to assess age in the asylum process
The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics considers it ethical to use medical methods to assess age in the asylum process, under certain circumstances.
The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics has conducted an ethical analysis of ‘traumatic shaking’ with reference to the report on the subject by The Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services.
Read the opinion from the Swedish national council on medical ethics.
Symposium in October on hard choices, QALYs and ethics
The seminar will address questions regarding how much – and why – we are prepared to pay to prolong or improve somebody’s life. To answer these questions we are not only dependent on the economic resources or on the technical development within a society. We also need to consider different underlying ethical values and aspects that are at issue.
Recent years' breaktrough in medicine and new digital techniques has provided new possibilities for individuals to engage in medical research and health care – as patients, research subjects, consumers or citizens. The Swedish Council has published a comment on the subject citizen participation.
Conference in September on illegal and spurious medicines
Smer is together with Lund University arranging the conference: Illegal and spurious medicines – a danger to public and personal health. The purpose of the conference is to highlight the trade with illegal medicines and discuss it from a global, national and ethical perspective.
The report 'ADHD – ethical challenges' highlights ethical issues that have specifically arisen in connection with the significant increase in recent years in the number of children and adults diagnosed with ADHD.
Opinion on fixed compensation to egg donors
The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics sees ethical risks in using fixed compensation to egg donors. With high fixed sums some donors might have economic reasons instead of altruistic.
The technique CRISPR-Cas 9 has been described as a revolution in gene technology and holds promises for methods such as ecological engineering and somatic gene therapy. The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics has published a “Smer Comment” on the subject containing a brief review of the international debate supplemented with comments from the Council.
Hindsight and foresight – based on 30 years of medical ethics
The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics will celebrate its 30th anniversary by hosting an international conference. The conference will take place on 9-10 September in the Conference centre at the Prime Minister´s Office (Rosenbad) in Stockholm.
Workshop 29 April: Ethical aspects on reconstructive surgery for children with differences in sex development
This workshop will emphasise ethical aspects of reconstructive surgery on young children with differences of sex development, as well as other questions related to diagnosis and medical treatment. Differences of sex development in children raise a number of questions – medical, social/ psychological, ethical, legal, and societal. The main objective of this workshop is to discuss the ethical and legal aspects and other dilemmas concerning medical treatment and reconstructive surgery on children with differences of sex development.
What does it mean to be diagnosed with ADHD? What problems may exist at an individual level and from a societal perspective? These questions were discussed when The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics met students from different schools for a dialogue meeting on 12 March.
New report from the Swedish ethics council published 19/2 2015.
New report from the Swedish ethics council- published 29/1 2015.
Where is the line between therapy and improvement? Can medical therapies be used to enhance cognitive functions in healthy individuals? What are the risks and ethical aspects?In the latest document from the series "Smer comments" the subject of neuroenhancement is discussed.
The 12:th World Congress of Bioethics took place in Mexico City the 24-27 of June. During the congress a wide variety of topics related to current and future challenges within bioethics were covered. The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics was represented in the program.