Health Care Ethics Committee Determinations

Abstract

In 1975, a Baylor Law Review article recommended using hospital ethics committees for end-of-life decision making. Its author, Dr. Karen Teel, thought that “such an entity could lend itself well to an assumption of a legal status which would allow courses of action not now undertaken because of the concern for liability.” A year later, the New Jersey Supreme Court, considering whether to permit withdrawal of ventilator support from Karen Ann Quinlan, adopted Teel’s idea and endorsed ethics committees. The New Jersey court’s endorsement provided a crucial boost to the fledgling ethics committee movement, which has since become widespread in the United States. Most health care delivery organizations now have health care ethics committees (HECs), which make determinations, or recommendations, on request, regarding medical treatment in difficult clinical cases.