October 1997
Volume Four, Number Ten
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.
Friday, October 24. Jeffrey Kahn, PhD, MPH, Director, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota, will present Ethics Grand Rounds at Millard Fillmore Gates Circle, Webster Hall at 11:00AM. The topic will be Ethical Issues in Managed Care: Lessons from Minnesota For further information, contact Jack Freer at 887-4852, jfreer@buffalo.edu.
Upcoming Lectures
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.
Wednesday, October 8. The Annual Celebration for Planned Parenthood of Buffalo and Erie County, Inc. 12:15 PM at the Buffalo Hyatt, Two Fountain Plaza, Buffalo. Dr. Jocelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General in the Clinton Administration, will be the keynote speaker. Recipients of Planned Parenthood’s Women’s Health Award and the William B. Hoyt Advocacy for Choice Award will also be honored. For details, contact Susan Higgins, Community Relations Coordinator at 853-1779.
October 22-24. 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.
Thursday, October 23. "Children and Grieving Lecture." Hospice Mitchell Campus, 225 Como Park Boulevard, Cheektowaga. J. William Worden, PHD, ABPP, will present a full day conference. Registration is $75.00 and includes continental breakfast, materials, and breaks. To register, call the Life Transitions Center at 836-6460. The lecture is sponsored by Peter C. Cornell Trust and Independent Health.
Friday, October 24. Jeffrey Kahn, PhD, MPH, Director, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota, will be present "Past and Present Lessons in the Ethics of Clinical Research" at the Clinical Pharmacology Division, SUNY-Buffalo. This talk will be held at Millard Fillmore Gates Circle, Webster Hall at 9:30AM Dr. Kahn will then speak at city-wide ethics grand rounds at 11:00AM at the same location. The topic will be Ethical Issues in Managed Care: Lessons from Minnesota For further information, contact Jack Freer at 887-4852, jfreer@buffalo.edu.
Friday, October 31. "Frankenstein: Implications and Consequences." 8:00 PM, Center for Inquiry, 1310 Sweet Home Road, Amherst. Tim Madigan, "Bioethics Bulletin" editor and editor of Free Inquiry magazine, will speak on the history of the Mary Shelley novel, and H. James Birx, professor of anthropology at Canisius College, will examine the symbolism of the film and its relevance for contemporary debates over genetic engineering, cloning and the creation of life. The climax will be a rare showing of James Whale's classic 1931 movie with Boris Karloff. What better way to spend Halloween night?
Tuesday, December 16. A One-Day Bioethics Symposium in memory of Benjamin Freedman. Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal. The symposium is being sponsored by the McGill Centre for Translational Research in Cancer, the McGill Biomedical Ethics Unit, and the Jewish General Hospital Research Ethics Office. The invited speakers are: Robert Levine, Sam Gorovitz, Abbyanne Lynch, Arthur Caplan, Charles Weijer, Francoise Baylis. For more information, please contact Dr. Gerald Batist, McGill University Centre for Translational Research in Cancer, tel: 514-340-7915; fax: 514-340-7916; e-mail: GBatist@onc.JGH.McGill.ca.
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.
On October 22 and 23, 1998, Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario will host its third annual conference on business and professional ethics. The Laurier conferences are designed to foster dialogue and ongoing linkages between academics and practitioners. They stress interaction between academic researchers in the field of ethics and practitioners.
In recent years a variety of issues regarding the ethical behavior of practicing professionals have arisen in most professions. For the 1998 Laurier Conference on Business and Professional Ethics, the focus will be on the area of education and training in the ethical practice of professions.
The organizing committee invites papers, detailed abstracts or proposals for workshops, seminars and panel discussions on issues pertaining to Ethical Training and Education. Possible topics for submissions include: Can ethical behavior be taught? What is the role of character in ethics training and education? Can professional schools set selection criteria to screen for ethical standards? Should admission to professional practice and licensing reflect ethical concerns? Should ethics be taught? All submissions will be peer reviewed. Selected papers will be published. Please send 3 copies of a finished paper (20 pages, double spaced) or detailed abstract or proposal (2-5 pages, double spaced) clearly defining the objectives, points to be covered, as well as a short biographical note by November 3, 1997 to: Dr. Kim Morouney, School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue W., Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5; phone: (519) 884-1970; e-mail: kmoroune@mach1.wlu.ca.