August 1997
Volume Four, Number Eight
Co-Directors:
Gerald Logue, MD and Stephen Wear, PhD
Associate Director:
Jack Freer, MD
Research Associate:
Adrianne McEvoy
Address: Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care
Veteran's Affairs Medical Center
3495 Bailey Avenue Buffalo, NY 14215
Telephone: 862-3412 FAX: 862-4748
Website:
http://wings.buffalo.edu/faculty/research/bioethics/
Send E-mail to: wear@acsu.buffalo.edu.
BIOBUL-LIST is strictly used for distribution of "Bioethics Bulletin" and is mainly for those outside of Western New York. If you have further questions about this service, contact Jack Freer at 887-4852 or at: jfreer@buffalo.edu.
Upcoming Center Meetings
The Center currently has three committees: Community Affairs,
Education and Research. All Center members are welcome to
participate in these committees.
Upcoming Lectures
Thursday, September 18. A conference entitled "Placebo-Controlled
Studies in Schizophrenia: Ethical and Scientific Perspectives"
will be presented by the Schizophrenia Division, Clarke Institute
of Psychiatry, and the Department of Psychiatry, University of
Toronto, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, at the Clarke Institute of
Psychiatry, 250 College Street, Toronto. The conference will be
of interest to clinical investigators, mental health professionals,
health administrators, bioethicists, and individuals involved in
the pharmaceutical industry and in the ethical/scientific review
of clinical research protocols.
Further information concerning registration may be obtained by contacting Catherine Riley, Conference Coordinator, at the Education Office, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, telephone: 1-416-979-6963; fax: 1-416-979-4970.
Sunday, October 5-Monday, October 6. "Issues Regarding Organ Transplants: The Legal, Medical and Ethical Aspects." Sponsored by the University of Virginia Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery. The purpose of the conference is to provide an academic forum for the definition and discussion of national issues and concerns related to organ transplants. Registration cost is $100.00. For information, contact Mary D. Miller, 1-804-924-8394; e-mail: mdm9p@virginia.edu.
Wednesday, October 22-Friday, October 24. The State Society on Aging of New York announces its 25th Annual Conference, at the Desmond in Albany, New York. The conference theme is: "Building Generational and Cultural Bridges: A 25th Anniversary." For information, contact Duane A. Matcha, PhD, SSA Program Chair, Department of Sociology, Siena College, 515 Loudon Road, Loudonville, New York 12211-1462; telephone: 518-783-2944; fax: 518-783-4293; e-mail: matcha@siena.edu.
Friday, October 24. Jeffrey Kahn, PhD, MPH, Director, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota, will present "Past and Present Lessons in the Ethics of Clinical Research" at the Clinical Pharmacology Division, SUNY-Buffalo, (held at Millard Fillmore Gates) as well as city-wide ethics grand rounds. Information will be given in an upcoming "Bioethics Bulletin."
Under this broad topic, three themes will organize many of the sessions featured at the meeting. These are "Institutions, Technology, and Culture." Presentations will be grouped around the relationship between ethical and humanities perspectives on institutional and organizational change, new developments in medical science and technology, and the cultural diversity and changing moral attitudes that are of growing importance in American society. For further information, please contact: Joint Meeting, 6728 Old McLean Village Drive, McLean, VA 22101; fax: 703-556-8729; e-mail: shhv@aol.com.
The Society for Health and Human Values will be holding its Spring Regional Meeting, April 17-18, 1998 at Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio. The theme is "Whose Ethics? Which Medicine? The Tacit and Explicit Development of a Medical Ethic." The conference will consider two types of questions: 1. The Origins of Medical Ethics: Where does medical ethics come from? Is there an implicit or tacit ethic of medicine? Is so, does ethics vary according to profession and specialty? 2. Knowledge of Medical Ethics: Who knows medical ethics? Is it the province of a particular kind of professional or type of person? Or is biomedical ethics a matter of common sense and common knowledge? Paper proposals should be sent in the form of an extended abstract, 500-1,000 words. Please submit 3 copies by October 1, 1997 to: Jody Chidester, Center for Medical Ethics, 3708 Fifth Avenue, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
Center member Bogda Koczwara, MD, who has been a senior fellow in medical oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute for the past two years, has returned to her home in Australia. Dr. Koczwara was a member of the Center's executive committee and a regular participant in its reading group. She reports that she will be keeping her interest in ethics alive, perhaps getting like-minded Aussies to also set up a Center for Bioethics. Bogda was a major supporter and contributor to many Center activities, and we will miss her enthusiasm, good humor and personal integrity. Bon Voyage!