Ethical code
Italian Society of Aesthetic Medicine (SIME)
INTRODUCTION
SIME’s mission is regulated by this Code of Ethics and Deontology, and aims to:
- make available to everyone the excellence of the doctors trained in Aesthetic Medicine who are members of SIME and with an appropriate four-year or university training course along with constant updating, thus guaranteeing the highest quality and professionalism;
- promote free interaction and dialogue between patients and professionals, doctors and non-doctors, on the subject of Aesthetic Medicine;
- promote information, dissemination and professional updating activities in the field of Aesthetic Medicine through seminars, conferences and public information initiatives in general.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Respect for the individual is the fundamental presupposition of relationships between people. Compliance with this Code of Ethics and Deontology is the basis of every action by SIME in relation to people who place their trust in the Society.
SIME always refers to the guiding principles of the discipline, shown below:
Aesthetic Medicine establishes a programme of social, preventive, curative and rehabilitative medicine at the service of the community. Its ultimate goal is the construction and reconstruction of psychophysical balance.
The essential points of this important field of action are:
- treatment of physical misfortunes and constitutional aesthetic alterations;
- treatment of unsightly sequelae of diseases and traumatic accidents;
- prevention of ageing and any consequent psychophysical disability;
- constant education to allow everyone rational management of their biological heritage thanks to dietary, physical and mental health programmes.
SIME observes the most stringent rules on privacy and professional secrecy, and verifies that the same rigour is applied by collaborators and support organisations.
SIME takes good care of the development of the personality, ensuring that it takes place in harmony with safeguarding the physiognomy of the person through the effects of aesthetic medicine.
SIME is aware that professional commitment cannot be separated from the social responsibility of its work.
The main objective of the medical profession is to provide a service in full respect of human dignity: SIME and its members are committed to earning patients’s trust, ensuring each of them receives the best service and availability.
THE DUTIES OF THE DOCTOR
Art. 1
The acceptance and observation of the rules contained in this Code of Ethics and Deontology are the prerequisite for each member of SIME, sharing all the Society’s principles and objectives.
Art.2
The Doctor is required to provide the utmost cooperation and readiness in relations with their professional Order.
Art. 3
The doctor is obliged to treat the health of all patients, without any discrimination, respecting life and human rights. Their essential duty is to safeguard patients’ health and physical and moral integrity. As a member of SIME, they must take all necessary steps to ensure that patients feel at ease, providing them with a healthy environment geared towards satisfying individual needs. This must be achieved based on their recognised and certified professionalism, letting themselves be guided by the ethical principles and rules established by this Code of Ethics and Deontology.
Art. 4
The doctor has the right and duty to observe the following principles:
- to respect the life, dignity and freedom of each patient, and act with their main goal being the patient’s physical, mental and social well-being;
- to put all their skills at the service of the patient, in order to guarantee the best results;
- not to discriminate against the patient on the basis of nationality, age, socio-economic level, race, sex, religion, ideology or similar;
- to respect the privacy of each patient, not disclosing personal information or images, unless the patient has given express permission.
Art. 5
The doctor is responsible for the advice provided within the scope of their activities.
Art. 6
The doctor must limit their actions and responsibilities to their area of competence and according to their title, degree or authorisation. The attention given to patients must be qualified and planned on the basis of scientific principles.
Art. 7
The doctor cannot delegate faculties, functions or responsibilities concerning their profession or activity to unauthorised personnel.
Art. 8
The doctor is required to stay abreast of all scientific and technological advances in Aesthetic Medicine, in order to provide the best and most advanced treatments.
Art. 9
The doctor must only use or prescribe products of guaranteed and approved quality.
Art. 10
The prescription of drugs is an essential part of medical work, therefore the doctor must defend the freedom of prescription as a “medical act”, and assumes the ethical and legal responsibility for the results of this activity.
Art. 11
It is forbidden for any member to speak on behalf of SIME in any field (media, conferences, public meetings) without having previously obtained clearance from the Governing Council.
Art. 12
In medical-legal activity the doctor must avoid any form of improper counselling that could represent unjust damage to other members, under penalty of referral to the Collegio dei Probi Viri (Board of Arbitrators). The office or party’s consultancy must strive only to interpret the available scientific evidence, respecting the objectivity and the scientific dialectic as well as showing prudence in evaluation concerning the conduct of the subjects involved. The performance of medical-legal services that do not comply with these provisions constitutes, as well as an offence sanctioned by law, conduct detrimental to professional decorum, and therefore potentially punishable after referral to the Board of Arbitrators.
THE RIGHTS OF THE PATIENT
Art. 13
The patient has the right to have their dignity respected, to receive the best possible service on the part of the doctor, and to obtain well-being both on the psychophysical level and on the socio-cultural level.
Art. 14
The patient has the right to be informed about their state of health, in order to give their consent for diagnosis, prognosis, therapy and treatment of primary and secondary prevention. The patient must sign a release form and the “Informed Consent” whenever they undergo a new treatment.
Art. 15
The patient has the right to maintenance of secrecy regarding their state of health in relation to third parties. Such confidential information cannot be disclosed either verbally or through the disclosure of their medical record.
Art. 16
The patient has the right not to be stigmatised or held in contempt because of their physical or mental condition.
Art. 17
The doctor must establish a relationship of loyalty, dignity, respect, understanding and tolerance with the patients, performing clinical examinations and formulating the diagnosis and therapeutic indications with the highest moral consideration for human dignity, without any kind of discrimination.
Art. 18
The doctor must dedicate the time necessary to evaluate their patients’ needs, to examine them and indicate the diagnosis, while providing the necessary explanations.
Art. 19
The doctor is required to continuously improve their own knowledge and medical competence and also has the duty to disseminate new medical advances to patients and colleagues.
Art. 20
The doctor is required to use therapeutic strategies based on sound scientific basis, and not to associate professionally with anyone who violates this principle.
Art. 21
The doctor must ensure the patient’s protection from doctors with low professional competence and moral stature. The doctor must respect all laws and defend the dignity and honour of the profession. They must bring unlawful or unethical conduct by colleagues to the attention of the competent authorities, as well as that of SIME’s Board of Arbitrators, without hesitation.
PROFESSIONAL SECRECY:
Within the principles governing the doctor-patient relationship, professional secrecy, confidentiality and free informed consent to the care given by the patient themselves or, in case of need, by a competent family member or legal representative, are of primary importance.
Art. 22
In the medical field, professional secrecy must be understood as anything that is not ethical or legal to reveal without just cause. A doctor cannot reveal the patient’s confidences or any information obtained from the patient in the professional field, unless this is required by law or is necessary in order to protect the well-being of the individual or community.
Art. 23
For the doctor, professional secrecy is an ethical and moral obligation, and is linked to respect for the patient’s freedom. Public interest, patient safety, family honour, respect for professionalism and the dignity of medicine require secrecy.
Art. 24
The importance of professional secrecy is such that it constitutes a legal obligation, the violation of which, without just cause, is defined as a crime by the Criminal Code of the Republic. It is not necessary to publish sensitive data about the patient to consider the secret as having been revealed; telling a case’s secrets to another person is also considered a crime.
Art. 25
The doctor has the right and duty to keep secret everything the patient has confided to them, what they have seen, and what they have deduced from the documents written in the practice of their profession. The medical staff must be so discreet as to reveal nothing, either directly or indirectly. The doctor’s collaborators are subject to professional secrecy.
THE DUTIES OF THE ORGANISATION
Art. 26
The main goal of SIME, as a medical school of thought, is to work in harmony with medical and non-medical professionals to provide wellness to patients and provide them with the best performance and excellent service.
Art. 27
All doctors who are members of SIME are committed to compiling websites aligned with professional ethics, and therefore free from illusory advertising and marketing operations unworthy of the medical profession. They also undertake to use web channels such as Social Networks exclusively to spread general, non-advertising content. Membership of purchasing groups is incompatible with membership in SIME.
Failure to comply with this article entails referral to the Board of Arbitrators.
Art. 28
SIME is committed to the continuous improvement of its Quality System, through a series of planned and systematised actions, to make its services suitable and ensure that the quality achieved will meet the needs of patients.
Art. 29
SIME is committed to providing highly effective and appropriate services with the most innovative technology and the best scientific knowledge.
Art. 30
The doctor can, in particular circumstances, provide their work for free provided that such behaviour is not advertised and does not constitute, consequently, unfair competition or illicit customer hoarding.
Art. 31
SIME has established this Code of Ethics and Deontology as the guiding principle of its actions, and undertakes to respect and enforce it with respect to all its medical and non-medical members. Doctors, in particular, are required to act in accordance with the General and Specific Principles of this Code in all contact with patients, colleagues and the general public.
CONCLUSION
Art. 32
SIME, through the work of its members, undertakes:
- to always treat patients with honesty, solidarity and transparency and inform the patient, in a clear, comprehensible and detailed way, about the Aesthetic Medicine procedure and the therapeutic strategy through the administration and discussion of specific informed consent
- to ensure respect of the patient’s privacy and confidentiality at all times;
- to leave the patient wide freedom of choice without undue influence;
- to offer the patient complete, continuous and qualified assistance with particular regard to availability;
- to be continuously informed about the latest medical developments with frequent participation in courses and conferences, in order to offer the patient a highly qualified and up-to-date service;
- to perform the medical procedures in a suitable environment and after thorough study of the patient’s clinical situation through clinical, diagnostic and laboratory tests.
- not to perform unjustified professional services or those for which no prior consent has been given by the patient;
- not to proceed with performing services for aesthetic purposes only on underage patients, and in all cases only after extensive discussion with the person concerned and their parents or guardians, aware according to their ability to understand and after having acquired, if necessary, specialist advice from the psychologist and having planned an appropriate psychological support plan;
- to use only medical devices that meet all the requisites required by current EU legislation, and include appropriate documentation (type, serial number, manufacturing lot) in the clinical record, releasing a copy to the patient;
- not to produce advertising that is misleading or unworthy of the medical profession;
Rome 04/12/2015
The Governing Council
President, dott. Emanuele Bartoletti
Honorary President, dott. Fulvio Tomaselli
Vice President, dott. Domenico Centofanti
Vice President, dott. Gloria Trocchi
Secretary, dott. Dario Dorato
Treasurer, dott. Carlo Zannella
Council Member, dott. Loredana Cavalieri
Council Member, dott. Domenico Feleppa
Council Member, dott. Nadia Fraone
Council Member, dott. Elisabetta Fulgione
Council Member, dott. Fausto Perletto
Council Member, dott. Stefania Santini
Council Member, dott. Maura Secchi
Council Member, dott. Antonio Vivenzio
Arbitrator, dott. Kristallia Antoniadou
Arbitrator, dott. Simona Laura
Arbitrator, dott. Giuseppe Spizzirri Marzo