Bioethics

Bioethics links medical practice, research and life sciences with fundamental rights and professional duties. In Switzerland it shapes rules on informed consent, capacity, reproductive medicine, human research, genetics, transplantation and end-of-life care. Swiss law combines federal legislation, cantonal health rules, medical ethics and oversight by ethics committees or authorities. Comparative issues often turn on how systems balance patient autonomy, human dignity, scientific freedom, public health and protection against discrimination or exploitation.