Does Legislating Hospital Ethics Committees Make a Difference? A Study of Hospital Ethics Committees in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia

Abstract

Nationally, the number of hospital ethics committees grew dramatically during the 1980s. The motivation for establishing such committees, however, was not only internal but included court cases, federal regulations and a Presidential Commission report urging the establishment of such committees by hospitals.While each of these external forces added to the pressures for hospitals to establish their own ethics committees, the establishment of these committees was voluntary in every state until 1987 when the Maryland Patient Care Advisory Committee Act became effective. The Act requires all hospitals within Maryland to establish their own patient care advisory committees or ethics committees, as most hospitals refer to them. Specifically, the Act provides that at the request of a petitioner, these committees must offer advice in cases involving individuals with life-threatening conditions. The committee must consist of at least four members, including a physician, a nurse, a social worker, and a hospital's chief executive officer or designee.