History and mission

Medical decisions raise difficult questions which cannot be addressed in purely technical terms, but require a thorough and organized reflection about the good in relation to any particular situation. The Center for Clinical Ethics (AP-HP) in Paris has been founded in 2002 following the Patients’ rights act (March 4th, 2002) in order to help all stakeholders through the decision-making process and serve as a sounding board for novel concerns that arise on the ground as new technologies make it into medical practice. Its interdisciplinary team (doctors, nurses, philosophers, legal scholars, psychologists, members of the civil society) ensures that issues are considered and evaluated from several perspectives. Team and staff members are all trained through a 2-year program in clinical ethics. The Center’s consultation service is open to both healthcare professionals and patients as well as family members and proxies. The Center’s promotes empirical research projects to gain insights into changing medical practices in several specific domains and ethical questions.