A Framework for Ethics in Radiological Protection? Considerations from Elsewhere

The lecturer started by presenting the principles of biomedical ethics of autonomy, justice, non-maleficence and beneficence and the Ethical theories, taking into consideration the Ethics of Conduct (what sort of actions should be performed) by incorporating consequentialism and deontology and the Ethics of Character (what sort of people should we be?) which converges into Aristotelianism. Together with justification, optimization and limitation, another important aspect is the informed consent, in its three constituents of information, voluntarism and decisional capacity. The participation pact, with the ethical counselling, is suggested in view of a real patient empowerment, putting the patient at the heart of services. The presentation introduced the ACCE model process (Analytical validity, Clinical validity, Clinical utility, Ethical, legal and social implication), used for evaluating genetic tests and structured with a standard set of 44 targeted questions which address disorder, testing and clinical scenario, as well as associated ethical, legal and social issues, since an important 'byproduct' of this model is the identification of gaps in knowledge, which may help to define future agendas. As 'Innovation happens elsewhere' is often a reality and in any case a good point of reflection and view, a scheme similar to ACCE is tentatively proposed for RP, in biomedicine, by discussing the aspects of Analytical validity, Clinical validity, Clinical utility and Empowerment of the patient, together with the suggestion to address targeted questions concerning the aspects of importance in RP