Currently valid guidelines

The Central Ethical Committee anticipates and discusses ethical problems arising in the field of medicine. As support for medical practice or for biomedical research, it formulates guidelines and recommendations. These are as a rule incorporated into the Statutes of the Swiss Medical Association (FMH) and are therefore binding for members of the Association. The guidelines are checked and revised at regular intervals.
A complete download-list of the current valid guidelines is available in German and French

Collaboration between the medical profession and industry (2013) PDF

Ethics support in medicine (2012) PDF

The Determination of Death in the Context of Organ Transplantation (2011) PDF / Prot 1 PDF / Prot 2 PDF / Prot 3 PDF

Advance directives (2009) PDF

Medical treatment and care of persons with disability (2008) PDF

Decisions on cardiopulmonary resuscitation: Medical-ethical guidelines and recommendations (2008) PDF

Biobanks: Obtainment, preservation and utilisation of human biological material (2006) PDF

Palliative Care (2006) PDF

Coercive measures in medicine (2005) PDF

Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Scientific Experiments on Animals (2005) PDF Short version PDF / Flowchart for the planification and execution of experiments in animals PDF

Ethical Assessment of Conflicting Issues in Animal Experimentation – Guide for Self-Assessment

Care of patients in the end of life (2004) PDF

Treatment and care of elderly persons who are in need of care (2004) PDF

Treatment and care of patients with chronic severe brain damage (2003) PDF

The exercise of medical activities with respect to detained persons (2002) / Addendum (2012) PDF

Borderline questions in intensive-care medicine (1999)

Somatic gene therapy in humans (1998)