L’“etica clinica” nelle determinazioni effettive del biodiritto: quale (possibile) ruolo per i comitati etici nell’ambito del fine vita?

Clinical ethics in the concrete definition of biolaw: what (possible) role for ethics committees in the context of end of life choices?

Abstract

The judgment of the Italian Constitutional Court n. 242 of 2019, which legitimizes, under certain conditions, physician assisted suicide, requires the prior opinion of “territorially competent ethical committees”. The article aims to examine the adequacy of this reference in the light, first of all, of the regulatory context in which these bodies deal mainly with clinical trials on medicinal products for human use and, secondly, with the indications of the National Bioethics Committee on the role of clinical ethics. 

Keywords: Clinical ethics committees; Bioethics; National Bioethics Committee; physician assisted suicide.