Doctors Reform Society of Australia
			supporting health care reforms to ensure justice, equity and quality care for all
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3.1  The DRS believes that improving well-being, minimising harm, respecting individual freedom and dignity and working for social justice are principles underlying ethical medical practice.
3.2  The DRS recognises that conflicting interests can make claims on medical practitioners, and believes that the interests of individual patients and the community generally take precedence over a practitioner's self-interest and obligations to professional peers.
3.3  The DRS believes that the conduct of medical practitioners should respect the rights of patients.  (see 2. Health Rights)

3.4  Financial Influences:
3.4.1  The DRS believes medical practitioners should not allow commercial or financial interests to bias advice given to patients (e.g. about private vs. public access to surgery), or management (e.g. refusing to provide necessary services for public patients).
3.4.2  The DRS believes company representatives and advertising should not be a primary source of information for medical practitioners.  Company sponsorship of educational events is only appropriate if it does not interfere with the educational value of the event.
3.4.3  The DRS recognises that medical practitioners are subjected to inducements from private companies and the cost, even if small (e.g. pens), is part of an advertising budget ultimately paid for by consumers.  The DRS believes no inducement should be accepted unless it will create a benefit to patients and the community outweighing the cost.

3.5  Research:
3.5.1  The DRS believes experimentation should be carried out in line with National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines and the Declaration of Helsinki, and supports the role of ethics committees in assessing and monitoring the use of humans and animals in research and teaching.
3.5.2  The DRS believes the use of subjects (human or non-human) in research and teaching is only justifiable if the likely benefits of their use will clearly outweigh any inconvenience or suffering caused to the subject.
3.5.3  The DRS believes students should be allowed to refuse on ethical grounds to participate in research and teaching involving animals.  The DRS believes that adequate provision should be made for these students to be taught and assessed by alternative means, and supports the use and development whenever possible of alternatives (e.g. computer simulation, in-vitro experimentation).
3.5.4  The DRS believes that scientific developments and research in contentious areas (e.g. genetic manipulation, cloning, IVF, organ transplantation) need to be closely monitored and should not occur without clarifying potential benefits and risks, and broadly assessing community views regarding its desirability.
3.5.5  The DRS believes that issues addressed by research and teaching should demonstrate gender balance.

.		.	The Doctors Reform Society of Australia, Box 14, 4 Goulburn Street, Sydney 2000. Phone 02 9264-9084 Fax 02 9267-4393.	.
			This page was last updated on 29th January, 2003.
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