#============================================================# | CENTER FOR CLINICAL ETHICS AND HUMANITIES IN HEALTH CARE | | BIOETHICS BULLETIN | #============================================================# Editor: Tim Madigan January, 1995 Volume Two, Number One =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= MISSION STATEMENT The Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care is devoted to supporting and enhancing the dialogue regarding ethical and humanistic issues in health care in the Western New York area. Its constituency includes members of area institutions of higher learning as well as health care providers and the institutions they practice in. Close coordination with hospital ethics committees as well as academic programs and research enterprises will be pursued. A monthly newsletter, monthly grand rounds and other lectures, and the development of research and reading groups, will be basic tactics in facilitating dialogue in the area. Membership is open to all. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= THE CENTER OFFICE For further information, please contact Lisa Bolten, the Center's secretary. The telephone number is 862-3609, FAX 862-3679. E-mail sent to Ms. Bolten (lbolten@ubmedc.buffalo.edu) will be forwarded as indicated. Regular mail should be sent to: The Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care c/o Gerald Logue, M.D. & Stephen Wear, Ph.D., Co-Directors VAMC, 11th Floor 3495 Bailey Avenue Buffalo, New York 14215 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= PARTICIPANT DATA SHEETS The Center would like to identify the basic interests of potential participants as well as identify those who may be willing and able to assist with the development of the Center and its enterprises. If you have not filled out a participant data sheet, please contact us at the address above and we will send one to you. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE The committee will be meeting on Tuesday, January 17th at 4:00 PM in the Board Room (third floor) of the Erie County Medical Center. Future planning for Grand Rounds, and other agenda items, will be discussed. The meeting is open to anyone interested in joining the committee. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= UPCOMING MEETINGS ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE GRAND ROUNDS: The Committee Affairs Committee will be sponsoring an ongoing series of bioethics grand rounds at area hospitals on a monthly basis. All Center members are encouraged to attend. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Withholding and Withdrawing Life Support: Dilemmas at the Beginning and the End of Life: Two Case Studies," Wednesday, January 25th, 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM. A review and discussion of two cases: 1. Whether to disconnect the feeding tube of an elderly patient with advanced disease; 2. Examination of the options of the case of an impaired fetus destined for the neonatal unit. These cases will be presented by Father Richard Zajac. Sisters of Charity Hospital, Palmer Hall. For information please contact Father Zajac at 862-2000. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Issues of Informed Consent for Bone Marrow Transplant in a Developmentally Disabled Patient," Monday, February 13, 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM. Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Administrative Conference Room, Main Hospital, 5 East. For information please contact Catherine Lyons at 845-3122. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming grand rounds will be held St. Joseph's Hospital - March Kenmore Mercy - April Sheehan Memorial - May Details on these meetings will be given in our next newsletter. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= UPCOMING LECTURES ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ General Internal Medicine Conference. "Clinical Ethics and Ambulatory Care," Wednesday, February 1st, 7:45 AM. UB South Campus, Beck Hall. Presenter: Jack Freer, MD. (An incorrect time of 8:00 AM was given in the previous newsletter.) Much of the interest in clinical ethics has been on high profile hospital-based issues. This conference will explore some of the more subtle, but common, issues in outpatient practice. For further information please contact Dr. Freer at 862-6611. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- D.W. Harrison Lecture. "Accelerating Approval of Drugs for Serious and Life-Threatening Illnesses." Thursday, February 9, 4:15 PM. UB South Campus, Butler Auditorium, Farber Hall. Presenter: David A. Kessler, JD, MD., Commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= SESQUICENTENNIAL BIOETHICS CONFERENCE As part of the activities in celebration of UB's sesquicentennial in 1996, a major part of the medical school's activities will involve a three-day conference in November, 1996. Substantial progress has already been made toward organizing a conference focusing on bioethical issues, including topics concerned with the physician-patient relationship, the human genome project, and health care reform. Eminent speakers around the country have already been tentatively approached, including Haavi Morreim, Laurence McCullough, H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., and Joanne Lynn. We will keep you posted as topics and dates are confirmed. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CENTER GOPHER The Center Gopher is expected to be operational at the end of January. You can already access some of the resources which it will provide. One example of this is the NYS Department of Health Gopher. For details, contact Jack Freer at Jfreer@ubmedb.buffalo.edu. A number of documents related to biomedical ethics are found there. The following excerpt concerning the "Do Not Resuscitate" Law was recently used to clarify a question among some Center members: =========================================================================== || Q: What is the definition of "medically futile" CPR under the DNR law? || || || || A: "Medically futile" means that CPR will be unsuccessful in restoring || || cardiac and respiratory function or that the patient will experience || || arrest in a short time period before death occurs. || || || || Q: What if the health care agent or surrogate refuses to consent to a || || DNR order and the physician believes that CPR would be futile for the || || patient? || || || || A: The attending physician must seek a second opinion. If the second || || physician concurs that CPR will be futile, as futility is defined by || || the law, and the concurrence is written in the chart, the attending || || physician may enter the order on grounds of futility, but must inform || || the agent or surrogate. || ========================================================================== =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= THE CENTER AND FREENET The Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care has been approved by Buffalo Freenet to maintain a "Biomedical Ethics" section on their public access computer system. It will be under the "Medical Center" menu. Further details will be found in the next Center newsletter. An integral part of the Freenet concept is to include a question and answer area which would permit anyone with a Freenet account (mostly lay people) to ask questions of Center members. It would be good if as many members as possible participated. However, since this is an on-line system, it will be necessary to limit this to those members who check their e-mail accounts frequently. If the volume of questions exceeds the capacity of our member volunteers, we might consider sending the questions outside the institution. Please contact the Center to let us know if you are interested in participating. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= RECENT PUBLICATIONS BY CENTER MEMBERS Gerald Logue, M.D. and Stephen Wear, Ph.D., "A Desperate Solution: Individual Autonomy and the Double-Blind Controlled Experiment", Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, Vol. 20 (1994), pp. 57-64. The Center is collecting publications from its members, to have on file. If you have published an article or book dealing with medical ethics issues in the past 5 years, please send a copy to the Center. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS Your comments and suggestions regarding this newsletter are encouraged. Please send them to the Center address, or by e-mail to the newsletter editor, Tim Madigan - timmadigan@aol.com. We also need information on upcoming events that would be of interest to Center members. The deadline for the next newsletter is January 15th. ==============================================================================