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Bioethics Consultation Service

The Bioethics Consultation Service provides consultation about ethical issues regarding clinical practice and research related to pediatrics.

We offer recommendations but do not make specific decisions. The Seattle Children’s Hospital Ethics Committee oversees the Bioethics Consultation Service and reviews the consultations on a monthly basis.

Ethics consultations can be requested by families, clinical staff, and research staff at Seattle Children’s Hospital

Because there are so few bioethics centers in the United States that specifically focus on issues in pediatrics, the Center for Pediatric Bioethics also provides advice and consultation to people outside Seattle Children’s Hospital.

What is a bioethics consultation?

Bioethics consultations are useful when ethical questions or conflicts arise regarding the care of a patient or the design of a research study.

Some consultations simply involve a phone call and a discussion. This is appropriate when practical guidance is needed based on our knowledge of regulations, laws and empirical data. An example of such an inquiry would be a question about the types of medical treatments available to adolescents without parental permission under state law.

Other consultations involve a face-to-face meeting. This can be particularly useful for disagreements between parties. In these cases, the participation of everyone involved can foster communication, mediation and practical problem solving.

Certain consultations specifically require a direct conversation with the patient, research participant or family. This is particularly important for questions about decision-making abilities, understanding or preferences, such as whether an adolescent is being unduly influenced about participating in a research study.

Generally, consultations are handled by an individual consultant, perhaps with the participation of a few ethics committee members. In some cases, it is useful for the entire ethics committee to meet to discuss the issue.

Depending on the request, we can provide a note in the medical record or a written report.

Seattle Children’s Hospital has five attending consultants. The consultant on call can be reached by contacting the paging operator or our administrative office.

Requesting clinical bioethics consultations

Clinical bioethics consultations are available for ethical issues related to patient care and clinical policies at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

For clinical consultations, call the paging operator at (206) 987-2000 and request to speak to the clinical bioethics consultant on call.

Requesting research bioethics consultations

Research bioethics consultations are available to advise families, research staff and investigators who have questions about participating in, designing or conducting clinical research.

We also advise Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Human Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) and the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which regulate human subjects research at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Research Bioethics consultations are coordinated by the Regulatory Support and Bioethics(RSB) Core of the Institute of Translational Health Sciences.

Consults can be requested by contacting the RSB core office at (206) 598-6477 or rsbcore@u.washington.edu. A consultant will be notified and will call you back shortly. For urgent issues related to the care of a particular research participant, call the Children’s paging operator at 206-987-2000 and ask for the Research bioethics consultant on call.