National Bioethics Committee launches panels on life-sustaining treatment, health data

The health ministry said Friday that the seventh National Bioethics Committee launched two special panels to narrow gaps in life-sustaining treatment and consider the use of artificial intelligence and health data. The committee said issues had been raised over gaps between the current treatment-decision system and its operation in the field since it took effect.

The 14 specialists on the life-sustaining treatment panel, drawn from medicine, ethics, patient groups, law, religion and the media, will consider when treatment may be withheld or withdrawn and develop recommendations this year.

Kim Ok-ju, the committee chair, said, "I will lead discussions toward solving the difficulties that patients, families and medical staff face under the current life-sustaining treatment system, and toward advancing data technology while protecting human dignity and human rights."

The 13-member panel includes specialists from civic groups, health care and industry, law, ethics, research and government. It will address data subjects' rights, data governance and research as artificial intelligence technology advances and demand for health-care big data grows. It will develop recommendations on consent procedures, the use of pseudonymized information and committee review processes.

Health Minister Jeong Eun-gyeong said, "Improving the life-sustaining treatment decision system and using health-care data are matters directly tied to people's lives. I hope the two special panels will lead discussions effectively based on the voices of those in the field and the public. As the ministry serving as the committee's senior secretariat, we will make policy efforts to turn the committee's discussions into actual institutional improvements."

At its first regular meeting, the committee received a report on plans to form five separate field-specific expert committees under the Bioethics and Safety Act, covering bioethics and safety policy, embryos, human-derived materials, genes and protection of research participants.