The Ethics for Justification of Radiological Procedures

There has been a steady and continuing interest in ethical issues in radiation protection for a number of years. The International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) has produced a Code of Ethics which was adopted at its last General assembly. Many RP Societies have similar Codes. However, the trend now is the application of ethics to more practical day to day matters. This paper will concentrate of the application of ethics in the field of Justification in Radiation Protection in Medicine. A description of basic ethical concepts will be given, together with some discussion of the application of ethics to the proposed new recommendations from the International Commission for Radiation Protection (ICRP). The paper will conclude with a more detailed discussion of the ethical process of requesting radiological procedures, particularly in line with European Commission Regulations (Directives) and how they can and should be applied locally. To assist participants, an extensive list of references is appended here