Ethics for Radiation Protection in Medicine

Jim Malone is Robert Boyle Professor (Emeritus) of medical physics at Trinity College Dublin. He worked halftime with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (Vienna) for several years and continues as a consultant with both the agency and WHO. He was dean of the School of Medicine and Faculty of Health Sciences at Trinity College Dublin; chairman of the Geneva-based International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) committee for global standards for medical imaging equipment. He has over 300 publications and numerous conference papers/keynote addresses. He has wide interests in the humanities and has contributed to thinking on the ethics basis for radiation protection in medicine. He has been involved in organising numerous summer schools involving science, medicine and the humanities.Friedo Zölzer is professor and head of the Institute of Radiology, Toxicology and Civil Protection at the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic. He is a radiobiologist with a strong interest in ethics, regularly lecturing and publishing in the area. He has significantly contributed to the development of a new approach to ethics of radiation protection at the international level, among others as a member of the International Commission on Radiological Protection’s (ICRP) task group on ‘Ethics of Radiological Protection’ and has been the organiser of a widely recognised biennial series of international symposia on the ethics of environmental health, in which medical applications for radiation played an important part.Gaston Meskens is a theoretical physicist with over 15 years’ experience of research related to sustainable development, energy, climate change and radioactive waste management. He works part-time with the Centre for Ethics and Value Inquiry of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of the University of Ghent and with the Science and Technology Studies group of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK•CEN . His research focusses on a human rights perspective on intellectual capacity-building in the interest of global sustainable development governance. At SCK•CEN, he co-founded the Programme of Integration of Social Aspects into Nuclear Research in 1999. The programme takes nuclear technology as a case, in order to critically study the complexity of risk-inherent technology assessment from the perspective of social justice and sustainable development. Recently, he has been a key contributor to the ethics framework for radiation protection for the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). At SCK•CEN, he works as researcher, writer, lecturer and mediator of dialogue on ethics in relation to science and technology.Christina Skourou, is a clinical radiotherapy physicist at the St. Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network in Dublin, Ireland, where she is involved in numerous radiotherapy clinical trials and is a member of the network’s Research Ethics Committee. She has served as the chair of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group 109, revising the Code of Ethics and, as of January, 2019, is the chair of the AAPM Ethics Committee. Christina holds a PhD in biomedical engineering (Dartmouth College) and an MA in medical ethics and law (Queen’s University Belfast).

"This is a well-structured book, giving a comprehensive view of the ethical framework for the radiological protection in medicine. It is a valuable source of information, for professionals and students, regarding the complexity of risk governance and the related ethical aspects, with reference to diagnostic and radiotherapeutic practices. Among the interesting notes, reported in the text, it can be cited for example, to consider the education on pluralist, critical and reflexive base and to give the opportunity to young people and students to develop a self-critical mind, accompanied by a sense for ethics and for intellectual solidarity."— Prof. Marie Claire Cantone in Physica Medica (69, 2020, 81)"This book extends current thinking in a crucial area for radiation protection in medicine, following on from recent initiatives at an international level. It extends current thinking into a ‘pragmatic value set’ against which practices may be judged, in addition to offering validation for this ‘set’ against historical views on ethics. There are excellent discussions regarding autonomy and dignity, especially in the context of the rise of patient-centred care and the, hopeful, demise of medical paternalism.In the light of issues such as Fukushima and conversations around the justification of medical radiation exposures, this book is a timely extension to the debate on a sound ethical foundation for radiation protection in medicine, which previously has either been lacking or assumed. I picked up this book with some trepidation but finished it feeling that it was issuing a challenge to professionals and policy makers alike to further develop the authors’ excellent work. I highly recommend this book to all such professionals and hope that we are up to that challenge."—Andy Rogers, Honorary (Consultant) Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham, School of Medicine"The excellent book ‘Ethic

• About the SeriesPrefaceAuthors1. Introduction 2. Ethics for Radiation Protection in Medicine: Framework and Multicultural Considerations 3. The Pragmatic Value Set: Contexts and Application to Radiation Protection in Medicine 4. Ethics Analysis of Imaging Scenarios 5. Ethics Analysis of Radiotherapy Scenarios 6. Extension of the Pragmatic Value Set 7. Reflections on Uncertainty, Risk and Fairness Afterword References Appendix Index