They question whether the committees have become too influential in health policy. The patient's wishes were unknown, and even after several days of discussion between physicians and his family, the latter remained fervently opposed to the DNR order. So, they overrode the family's wishes, and entered a DNR order, using as justification the ethics committee's approval of DNR orders in such cases. Some people think the role of ethics committees is not only advisory. The decisions that committees make often do not reflect community judgment, according to J.C. Van Ocker, a student at Pomona College.
Most people see at least some benefits of ethics committees and are optimistic about their future.
According to Arleen Stanton, a community member who also holds the co- chair of the medical ethics committee next to Dr. Awsare, the role of medical ethics committees is heading in the right direction. Distributive justice is how to distribute resources ethically while taking into account the limited number of resources available to the community. Most concerns raised about medical ethics committees result because of the lack of evidence that committees are effective. Others have concerns regarding the consequences of future ethics committees. Dave Han, a student at Claremont McKenna College, is uncertain about their future.