Míriam Méndez is appointed as a new member of the Bioethics Committee of Catalonia

This November, the Bioethics Committee of Catalonia (CBC) appointed four new members. One of the people appointed, Míriam Méndez, head of research and innovation at the DPO Office of the TIC Salut Social Foundation, will represent legal professionals at the CBC.

The appointments also include Milagros Pérez Oliva, Esther Farnós Amorós and Patricia Beiroz Groh. Together they have knowledge in the fields of human and social sciences, economics, health, the media, philosophy and research.

Bioethics and the CBC

Bioethics is the systematic study of human behaviour in the fields of biological sciences and health care. It is therefore concerned with the ethical issues involved in the human understanding of life. It is a discipline that arose from awareness of the need for critical reflection on the ethical conflicts caused by advances in the life sciences and medicine.

Society is characterised by a disparity of beliefs and ideas concerning what is good. In the field of health, for example, conflicts arise between the will of patients and the judgement of professionals. And bioethics provides certain aspects to reflect on that aid analysis of the specific situation to construct the best decision.

In turn, the Bioethics Committee of Catalonia addresses issues that affect society, based on a plural, multidisciplinary, independent, non-dogmatic and transparent approach.

It is made up of members representing the worlds of medicine, health care management, law and the humanities.

It is organised by tackling specific issues in different working groups made up of people from different disciplines. It has created standing committees to analyse specific issues in which the experts participate.

Its roles include providing legal advice to the Catalan Government on aspects of bioethics to determine policies in which it is necessary to consider ethical aspects; making recommendations for professionals, which serve as a reference for action in the face of different ethically-controversial situations in the field of clinical practice; issuing reports and position statements on issues that pose ethical implications related to research advances in biomedicine and health sciences; and organising outreach events to spread knowledge and recommendations, while encouraging training and knowledge transfer.