I know that some people may not see any ethical conflict in physician-reporters like CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, CBS’ Jennifer Ashton and ABC’s Richard Besser reporting on their own delivery of health care in Haiti. (MinnPost)

Life is complicated — especially when it comes to our health. Once we reach a certain age, we start to realize that health is a variable, not a constant. Our knees ache, our pace slows, and we’re diagnosed with diabetes or even cancer. And because the stakes are so high and the options so dizzying, we may stop engaging with our health altogether. We let doctors and insurance companies decide on our care, and we focus our energies on what we can control — our bank accounts, our relationships, but not, alas, our health. (Wired)

Journal of Medical Ethics (Volume 36, Issue 01, January 2010) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Clinical Ethics: Ascribing Intentions in Clinical Decision-making” by L A Jansen and J S Fogel, 2-6.
• “Clinical Ethics: ‘It’s Crucial They’re Treated as Patients’: Ethical Guidance and Empirical Evidence Regarding Treating Doctor-Patients” by F E fox, G J Taylor, M F Harris, K J Rodham, J Sutton, J Scott, and B Robinson; 7-11.
• “Ethics: When Physicians Forego the Doctor-patient Relationship, Should They Elect to Self-Proscribe or Curbside? An Empirical and Ethical Analysis” by J K Walter, C W Lang, and L F Ross; 19-23.
• “Law, Ethics and Medicine: The Right Not to Know and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis for Huntington’s Disease” by E Asscher and B-J Koops, 30-33.
• “Research Ethics: Payment for Participation in Research: A Pursuit for the Poor?” by M Stones and J McMillan, 34-36.
• “Research Ethics: An Investigation of Patients’ Motivations for their Participation in Genetics-related Research” by N Hallowell, S Cooke, G Crawford, A Lucassen, M Parker, and C Snowdon; 37-45.
• “Teaching and Learning Ethics: A Practical Approach to Teaching Medical Ethics” by S Mills and D C Bryden, 50-54.

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (Volume 19, Issue 01, January 2010) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Not Dead Yet: Controlled Non-Heart-Beating Organ Donation, Consent, and the Dead Donor Rule” by Dale Gardiner and Robert Sparrow, 17-26.
• “Just Caring: In Defense of Limited Age-Based Healthcare Rationing” by Leonard M. Fleck, 27-37.
• “Actualizable Potential, Reproduction, and Embryo Research: Bringing Embryos into Existence for Different Purposes or Not at All” by Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu, 51-60.
• “Consequentialism Without Consequences: Ethics and Embryo Research” by Sarah Chan and John Harris, 61-74.
• “Choosing Deafness with Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: An Ethical Way to Carry On a Cultural Bloodline?” by Silvia Camporesi, 86-96.
• “When is My Genetic Information Your Business? Biological, Emotional, and Financial Claims to Knowledge” by Ruth Wilkinson, 110-117.
• “Dignity: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Still Counting” by Doris Schroeder, 118-125.
• “Human Rights and Genetic Technologies” by D. Micah Hester and Alissa Swota, 126-127.
• “Human Rights and American Bioethics: Resistance is Futile” by George J. Annas, 133-141.

JAMA (Vol. 302; No. 24; December 23, 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Medical Care for the Final Years of Life: ‘When You’re 83, It’s Not Going to be 20 Years’” by David B. Reuben, 2686-2694.
• “Improving the Delivery of Preventative Services to Medicare Beneficiaries” by Leonard I. Lesser and Andrew W. Bazemore, 2699-2700.
• “Clinical Care in the Aging Century- Announcing ‘Care of the Aging Patient: From Evidence to Action” by C. Seth Landefeld, Margaret A. Winker, and Bruce Chernof; 2703-2704.
• “Efficacy Data and HPV Vaccination Studies” by Norman W. Baylor and Melinda Wharton, 2658-2659.
• “Marketing and the HPV Vaccine” by L. Stewart Massad, 2660.
• “Scientists Target Cocaine Addiction” by Bridget M. Kuehn, 2641-2642.

The 2005 culmination of the legal battle over Terri Schiavo’s life-sustaining treatment was as a flash point for public discussions about bioethics. While the field encompasses a wide range of complex and controversial subjects, debates over these issues often remain within the realms of academia, the scientific community, and the health professions. But in 2005, conservative political leaders insisted upon using the tragic situation of Schiavo and her family to push a right-wing agenda for end-of-life care decisions. They captured an enormous amount of media attention and made headlines around the county. (Science Progress)

Registration is now open for the 6th International Conference on Clinical Ethics Consultation: The Art of Ethics in Portland, Oregon, USA.

May 11-14,  2010. 

Portland Art Museum.

The theme for the 2010 conference is “the art of ethics,” to reflect the reality that clinical ethics consultation, like clinical practice, is both an art and a science. It also reflects the principle venue for the Conference: the Portland Art Museum.

www.ethics2010.org

 Click on “Program” to see the accepted abstracts, and don’t miss the travel and registration discounts available.

ethics@providence.org
www.providence.org/ethics

President Obama’s decision to name Amy Gutmann and James W. Wagner to lead his new Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues is an inspired one. Wagner is an engineer and president of Emory University, where he’s earned high marks for his devotion to the ideals of liberal learning. Former provost at Princeton and now president of the University of Pennsylvania, Gutmann is a political philosopher whose work explores, among other themes, the subject of moral disagreement in a democracy. (Bioethics Forum)

Dr. Joseph J. Fins has been elected president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) in recognition of his major contributions to bioethics and broad expertise in the field. He will assume the presidency in 2011, when he will begin a two-year term. Dr. Fins is chief of the Division of Medical Ethics in the Departments of Public Health and Medicine and professor of medicine, professor of public health and professor of medicine in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is also director of medical ethics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and chairs its ethics committee. (Newswise)

In 2000, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair jointly announced that a working draft of the human genome had been completed, paving the way for genetic tests and new treatments for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and even obesity. (BBC)

Science and ethics are inextricably linked, and it is sometimes unclear whether science can be considered friend or foe. Despite a history riddled with examples of destruction at the hands of scientific ingenuity (the atomic bomb) or simple moral disregard through experimentation (various instances of horrific studies involving human subjects), science today seems to generally fall within the “friend” classification. Battle cries of “cure cancer” and “vaccinate against HIV” greet the valiant scientist in shining armor, as he/she rides off to the laboratory. Yet, both the condemnation of scientific missteps of the past and the extolment of scientific virtue today illustrate the fact that conversations regarding science and ethics are all too often consumed with extremes. There is a paucity of discourse in the middle ground. (Genetic and Engineering News)

It would be nice to think that you could trust journalists to deliver the straight scoop when it comes to covering health news. But sometimes we don’t. Journalists’ getting health stories wrong is the subject of an editorial published online Nov. 20 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It notes two examples of major health stories gone awry. (Washington Post)

Please join the Center for American Progress for a special presentation:

Progress in Bioethics: Science, Policy, and Politics

January 7, 2010, 12:00pm – 1:30pm

Admission is free.

RSVP to attend this event

Featured panelists:

Sam Berger, JD Candidate, Yale Law School; Co-Editor, Progress in Bioethics
Michael Tomasky, Editor, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
Clay Risen, Managing Editor, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
Kathryn Hinsch, Founder and Board President, Women’s Bioethics Project; Contributor Progress in Bioethics
Marcy Darnovsky, Associate Executive Director, Center for Genetics and Society; Contributor Progress in Bioethics

Moderated by:

Jonathan Moreno, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; Editor-In-Chief, Science Progress, Co-Editor, Progress in Bioethics

President Obama pledged in his inaugural address to “restore science to its rightful place.” He followed this up with a presidential memorandum of scientific integrity to accompany his executive order restoring funding for embryonic stem cell research. On November 24, another executive order established the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, and just days ago, the NIH announced the approval of 13 new human embryonic stem cell lines for federally funded research.

After more than a decade of conservatives’ dominance of public bioethical debate, progressive bioethics is finally in ascendance. Editors Joanthan Moreno and Sam Berger map this new landscape with Progress in Bioethics, an anthology featuring contributions from progressive and nonprogressive bioethicists alike. They tackle substantive policy issues such as stem cell research, conscience clauses, and health care reform. More generally, they discuss the meaning of progressive bioethics, its place in the political arena, its stance toward biotechnology, and its interplay with religion. And most importantly, they seek to apply the fundamental progressive values of social justice, critical optimism, and practical problem solving—values that are needed now more than ever to restore ideological balance to the politics and policy of the life sciences.

Please join CAP and Democracy: a Journal of Ideas for a lively panel discussion led by Jonathan Moreno, Senior Fellow at CAP, Editor-In-Chief of Science Progress, and co-editor of Progress in Bioethics.

January 7, 2010, 12:00pm – 1:30pm

Space is extremely limited. RSVP required.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and not guaranteed.

Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m.

Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Map & Directions

Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center

RSVP to attend this event

For more information, call 202-682-1611.

The American Journal of Bioethics (Volume 9, Issue 12, 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “On the Healthcare Question” by Constantine A. Manthous, 1-3.
• “A Duty to Deceive: Placebos in Clinical Practice” by Bennett Foddy, 4-12.
• “Medicine’s Continuing Quest for an Excuse to Avoid Relationships with Patients” by Howard Brody, 13-15.
• “The Primacy of Autonomy, Honest, and Disclosure- Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs’ Placebo Opinions” by Kavita R. Shah and Susan Dorr Goold, 15-17.
• “Paternalistic Assumptions and Purported Duty to Deceive” by Jeffrey Berger, 20-21.
• “Physician Deception and Patient Autonomy” by D. Micah Hester and Robert B. Talisse, 22-23.
• “Placebo Prescriptions Are Missed Opportunities for Doctor-Patient Communication” by Yael Schenker, Alicia Fernandez, and Bernard Lo; 48-50.

The former ethics guru at Albany Medical College, who had a less than amicable split with the school last year, has landed a job in Kansas City. (Times Union)

Health Care Ethics in the 21st Century

Providence Health Care’s 2nd Annual Health Ethics Seminar

Conference Centre, 2nd Floor, 1190 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC

April 19 to April 22, 2010

Providence Health Care Ethics Services is offering their second annual
Health Ethics Seminar April 19 to April 22, 2010. Titled “Health Care
Ethics in the 21st Century”, this intensive four day course offered by
leaders in bioethics, law and medicine has been designed to help
clinicians as well as leaders identify and resolve ethical issues
arising in the clinical and organizational contexts of healthcare.

Participants will join an expert faculty to explore the following topics:
• Introduction to Bioethics
• Ethics, Law and Morality
• Organizational Ethics
• Resource Allocation & Public Policy
• Medical Decision Making
• Cultural Diversity in Health Care
• End-of-Life Care
• Moral Distress
• Ethics Consultation
• Professional Ethics

Please click on the link to download a program and a registration form:
http://www.providencehealthcare.org/ethics%5Fservices/health-ethics-seminars.html
Or email June at: jmonthatawil@providencehealth.bc.ca or call 604-806-9952.

Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (Volume 6, Issue 4, December 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “The Ethical Basis for Sustainable Human Security: A Place for Anthropocentrism?” by Alexander K. Lautensach, 437-455.
• “Neonatal Euthanasia- Why Require Parental Consent?” by Jacob M. Appel, 477-482.
• “Pastoral Power and the Confessing Subject in Patient-Centered Communication” by Christopher Mayes, 483-493.
• “The ‘Obligation’ to Screen and Its Effect on Autonomy” by Yvonne Lau and Chrystal Jaye, 495-505.

On April 29-30, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, MO will be hosting a symposium on Pediatric Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine.  A full afternoon session will be dedicated to presentations and discussions revolving around the Ethical Issues related to developing infrastructure for a pediatric personalized medicine program.  Topics include Ethical and Legal Barriers to Pediatric Bio-banking Initiatives, Critical Issues of Consent, Assent, and Distributive Justice in Pediatrics, Ethical Implications of Pediatric Genomics from a Regulatory Perspective, Pediatric Implications for Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genomics, and Challenges Facing Implementation of Personalized Medicine from a Japanese perspective.  Speakers include Skip Nelson, John Lantos, and Kyle Brothers.  For more information, please contact Mrs. Melonie Clifton at 816-234-3059 or mclifton@cmh.edu.

We’ve got one brewing right now. Yuval Levin, who worked in the White House domestic policy staff as an aide to George W. Bush, now has got a gig writing news stories for Newsweek. The Nation’s Ari Melber, who got wind of this, notes that when Levin’s first piece ran in the magazine last March, the editors slugged it as an analysis from “a Bush veteran.” No such notation was attached to Levin’s new piece chronicling why “right-of-center candidates are succeeding in the age of Obama.” A few months earlier, Levin even co-authored a piece in the conservative Weekly Standard with Bill Kristol explaining why “Obamacare” was wrong and deserved to be defeated. Melber, who smelled a skunk, called Newsweek, whose spokeswoman offered a defense. (CBS News)