Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care

Bioethics Bulletin

May 1998
Volume Five, Number Five

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.

Newsletter Distribution

This newsletter can be delivered to you via e-mail or fax or over the internet (forward your request to: Jack Freer, MD at: jfreer@buffalo.edu). If you prefer fax, call 862-3412 and leave your fax number. We encourage and appreciate the use of e-mail and fax distribution rather than paper for the newsletter.

Center Listservers

The Center now maintains two automated e-mail listservers. BIOETH-LIST is primarily designed for those in the Greater Buffalo area and permits subscribers to post to the list. This list is available for posting local announcements, as well as a medium for discussion of relevant topics. It will also distribute the Center newsletter, "Bioethics Bulletin." If you are on this list, you can send a message to the entire list by addressing the message to: BIOETH-LIST@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu. Archives of old BIOETH-LIST messages are maintained at: http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/archives/bioeth-list.html

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.

Community Affairs

Tuesday, May 19. "Ethical Issues in Organ Donation." ECMC Ethics Grand Rounds. 8:30 - 10:30 AM. Speakers: Susan Smith, President, Transplant Recipients International Organization; Rocco Venuto, MD, President, Upstate New York Transplant Services; Amber Slicuta, Organ Service Coordinator, Upstate New York Transplant Services. Moderator: Stephen Wear, PhD, Co-Director, Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care. Smith Auditorium, 3rd Floor, Erie County Medical Center, 462 Grider Street, Buffalo. Coffee served 8:00 - 8:30 AM.

Friday, May 29. 12 Noon. "Legal Developments regarding Managed Care in New York State: An Ethical and Legal Analysis". Millard Fillmore Hospital Ethics Grand Rounds. Presented by Robert Wild, Esq., Managing Partner, Garfunkel, Wild & Travis, Great Neck, N.Y. In Webster Hall, Millard Fillmore Gates Circle.

Pain Management Conference

Tuesday, May 12. 8:00-11:00. A series of lectures on chronic and acute pain management and building a "system-wide pain team" will be presented by Anne J. Sapienza-Crawford, MSN, RNC, CEN, Clinical Coordinator, Pain Management- St. Vincent Medical Center, Toledo, Ohio. In Lower Level Conference Room, Kenmore Mercy Hospital.

Reading Group

The Center’s Reading Group has chosen to focus on the book The Healer’s Power by Howard Brody, MD. PhD. [ The Healer’s Power is available through Amazon.Com.] There will be 2 meetings in May: Tuesday, May 5th and Tuesday, May 19th. The meetings are held at the Center for Inquiry, 1310 Sweet Home Road, between Maple and Rensch Roads in Amherst. Meetings are open to all interested parties. To receive copies of the reading material, or for further information, contact Adrianne McEvoy at 862-3412.

Upcoming Lectures

Friday, May 8. "Genetically Modified Organisms: Redesigning Food." Convened by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the British Embassy. 1200 New York, NW, Washington, D.C. 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The morning session will include an overview of current and imminent scientific capabilities for genetically manipulating microbes and crops as well as presentations on industrial and consumer perspectives on the promises and pitfalls of genetically modified food products. The afternoon session will feature a panel responding to questions on the science of genetically modifying natural food products, the consequences of doing so, public acceptance of this new technology, and the types of policies that should be in place. Rather than a series of presentations, the panel will be organized as a dialogue, with a moderator posing questions to panelists and encouraing participation by the audience. The forum is free and open to the public, but space is limited, so you must register to attend. Contact Sanyin Siang at AAAS. Phone: 202-326-6792; fax: 202-289-4950; e-mail: ssiang@aaas.org.

Friday, May 15-Saturday, May 16. "Genome Horizons: Public Deliberations and Policy Pathways." Marriott Hotel at Metro Center, Washington, D.C. Presented by the University of Michigan and Michigan State University Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences. The conference will engage many policy- makers from state and federal legislatures and agencies, health care professionals, health care ethicists, and health system and insurance industry leaders. It will consider useful approaches to genetic policy issues, as well as the question of who should shape the policies which will determine how, by whom, and on whom genetic technologies will be used. Fee: $195.00. To register, contact Tahnee C. Hartman, MPH; phone: 734-647-8304; fax: 734-936-0927; e-mail: genome.horizons@umich.edu.

Life Transitions Center

The Life Transitions Center, located at 3580 Harlem Road in Buffalo, has a number of support groups that can assist children, adults and families concerned with grief, death and coping with serious illness. The following support groups meet on an on-going basis:

General Grief Support Group - For grieving adults who have experienced the death of a loved one. Meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM at the Life Transitions Center. No fee. No registration is required.

Men and Grief - A group for men to discuss the issues they face when a lovedone dies. Meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM at the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care Education Center, 225 Como Park Boulevard, Cheektowaga. This group is led by professional staff. Fee: $5.00 per session. No registration is required.

Shelter From the Storm - A support group for children and their families who are facing the life-threatening illness of a loved one. Meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at 6:00 PM at the Life Transitions Center. Fee: $5.00 for 1 adult and 1 child. $2.00 for each additional child. Registration is required. Call Life Transitions at 836-6460.

For more information about education, counseling or other support groups offered through Life Transitions Center, an affiliate of the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care, call 836-6460.

Richard Hull Retirement Party

A special "Retirement Bar-b-Que and Roast" will be held in honor of Richard Hull, who is now Executive Director of the Texas Council for the Humanities. Formerly a professor of philosophy at SUNY-Buffalo, he was very active in local medical ethics issues. It will be held at the SUNY-Buffalo Center for Tomorrow, Sunday, May 3 at 12 Noon. If you would like to attend, please contact Judy Wagner at 645-2444, extension 707.

Canadian Bioethics Society

The 10th Annual Canadian Bioethics Society Annual Meeting will be held in Toronto on October 15-18, 1998. The conference is hosted by the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. Confirmed plenary speakers include James Childress, John Lantos, Robert Levine, Laura Purdy, and Judith Wilson Ross. A call for workshops and abstracts will be issued soon. For further details, contact Peter A. Singer, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Sun Life Chair in Bioethics and Director, University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics; phone: 1-416-978-4756; fax: 416-978-1911; e-mail: peter.singer@utoronto.ca.

Intensive Bioethics Seminar

The Kennedy Institute of Ethics in Washington, D. C. is offering an Intensive Bioethics Course, from June 6-11. Standard tuition is $1350, which includes course materials, breakfast and lunch, receptions and evening banquet, but not other dinners or lodging. The tuition fee is due by June 1, 1998. For details, call 1-202-687-5477.

Bioethics Course Offered

The Midwest Intensive Bioethics Course 1998 will be held July 13-18 at Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago. This year's theme is "Method in Bioethics: Philosophy, Law, Narrative." Case discussion, history, literature, and film will be used to illuminate basic ethical problems in health-care delivery. Tuition is $700.00. A limited number of partial tuition scholarships are available. Students may attend for $250.00. Several kinds of lodging are available. For information, contact Kristen Tym, Medical College of Wisconsin; phone: 414-456-4299; fax: 414-456-6511; e-mail: ktym@mcw.edu.

Members Corner

The Members Corner is designed to note research, presentations and published articles and books by Center members. Please send all such information to the newsletter editor so that the Center can keep members informed about the work occurring in this area.

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 May 15th.