Ethics Committees, Due Process, and Compassion

The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:

•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references

•Type with double-spacing

•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.

Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.

Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.

TO THE EDITOR:

Better research is needed on the quality, processes, and outcomes of ethics consultation, whether done by individual ethics consultants or by committee members. A recent article on ethics committees and an accompanying editorial [1, 2] support this view, although neither suggests quality standards that ethics consultants should be expected to meet.

We have researched potential standards of quality in ethics consultation [3, 4] and have developed measurable indicators oriented to the patient or surrogate and to the provider. Our quality standards are high, in line with an era of unprecedented assessment and accountability. As practical clinical ethics changes with the patient, so they must with the times.

John La Puma, MD

David Schiedermayer, MD

The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:

•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references

•Type with double-spacing

•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.

Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.

Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.

References

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