BMJ 1994;308:1161 (30 April)

Letters

Patients must come first

EDITOR,--One body of evidence and two different conclusions is nothing new in medicine. One reason is the difference between, on the one hand, the luxury of opinion without responsibility and, on the other, the necessity of making publicly accountable decisions. The Council of Deans of UK Medical Schools and Faculties repeatedly debated the potential risk to patients from students infected with hepatitis B virus and the responsible policy to adopt. We took impeccable expert advice. After two years of deliberation we arrived at the recommended policy challenged by A M L Lever,1 a policy that vice chancellors were free to accept or reject and chose to accept.

The situation was changing, and the matter had to be addressed: concerns included new awareness of potential risks, which were small but real enough to worry our consciences and interest lawyers; growing public concern, acknowledged by the General Medical Council, that doctors may . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Hepatitis B and medical student admission
A M L Lever
BMJ 1994 308: 870-871. [Extract] [Full Text]

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