Karachi Bioethics Group Meetings 2008

The KBG meeting place this year is Ziauddin Medical University Hospital in Clifton. Due to the sustained interest of members, it was decided to increase the frequency of meetings to once every two months. To date, the group has discussed issues of “consent in ICU settings,” emphasizing the need for hospitals to create policies on this matter. The group also addressed “the collusion of physicians and the state,” an issue highlighted in the press after the events of December 2007 and the unsatisfactory role of physicians in issuing a postmortem report following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. KBG condemned the pressures placed on physicians involved in the case and the practice of state coercion of physicians in falsifying medical reports. A press release was submitted, highlighting KBG’s concerns about the coercion of physicians by the government and the need for their protection against this practice.