Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care

Bioethics Bulletin

September 1998
Volume Five, Number Nine

Co-Directors: Gerald Logue, MD and Stephen Wear, PhD
NOTE NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS

Associate Director: Jack Freer, MD
Research Associates: Adrianne McEvoy and Larry Torcello
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. NOTE NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS

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.

Ethics Grand Round

Wednesday, September 23. "HMO's Managed Care." G. William Bates, MD, Vanderbilt University. 9:15-10:15 AM. Kinch Auditorium; Childrens Hospital.

Upcoming Lectures

Tuesday, September 8. "The Concepts of Health and Disease: A Foundation for a Feminist Bioethics." Scott DeVito, Visiting Professor of Philosophy, SUNY-Buffalo. 4:00 PM. 684 Baldy Hall, Amherst Campus, SUNY-Buffalo. For details, call 645-2444, ext. 781.

Friday, September 11. "The Secrets of Voodoo Revealed." Philips Stevens, Jr., SUNY-Buffalo Department of Anthropology. 8:00 PM. 8:00 PM. Center for Inquiry, 1310 Sweet Home Road, Amherst. For information, call Tim Madigan at 636-7571, ext. 218.

Thursday, September 17. "Accessing CME Resources on the Internet." 4:00 - 5:30 PM. Medical School Computing Lab, 231 Cary Hall, South Campus. Sponsored by the SUNY-Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Registration is limited to 20 people. To register, send a check for $5.00 by September 10 to: Neville Prendergast, Health Sciences Library, Abbott Hall, SUNY-Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14214.

Thursday, September 17. University of Rochester Annual Nicole Wan Lecture on Ethics in Research: Dr. Baruch Brody, Professor of Medical Ethics at Baylor College of Medicine. Topic: "International Regulation of Research." 4:00 PM, Upper S-Wing (Room 3-7619) at Strong Memorial Hospital (Medical School Wing), Rochester. Coordinated by the Program in Clinical Ethics of the Division of Medical Humanities. For further information, contact Andrea Ehmann at 275-5800; e-mail: aehmann_urmc.rochester.edu.

Thursday, September 17. "Inhibition of Tyrosine Kinase Signaling in Angiogenesis: Search for New Anti-Cancer Therapies." Dr. Ralph Bernacki, Dept. of Experimental Therapeutics. 3:00 PM. Cary Meeting Room, Research Studies Center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute. For further information, call Linda Beverage, Education Office, 845-2300.

Thursday, October 15-Sunday, October 18. "Crossing the Boundary, Crossing the Line: Oral History on the Border." Oral History Association 1998 Annual Meeting. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Buffalo. The conference will present more than seventy panels, a dozen workshops, and a number of performance pieces and documentary showings. Topics include migration, ethnic and gender identity, relationships in interviewing, interdisciplinary, comparative, and transnational issues, ethical and legal boundaries, classroom use, oral history and new technologies. Registration cost: $90.00. For further information, please contact: Oral History Association, PO Box 97234, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76798-7234; phone: 254-710-2764; fax: 254-710-1571; e- mail: oha_support@baylor.edu.

Thursday, October 15. "Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine: Role of the Physician in Palliative Care." Dr. Mark Lema, Chief of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. 3:00 PM. Cary Meeting Room, Research Studies Center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute. For further information, call Linda Beverage, Education Office, 845-2300.

Thursday, October 15. "Humanism and Happiness." Timothy J. Madigan, editor, Free Inquiry magazine and "The Bioethics Bulletin." 7:00 PM. Center for Inquiry, 1310 Sweethome Road, Amherst. For details, call 636-7571, ext. 218.

Friday, October 30. "Palliative Care at the Brink of the Millennium: Hospice, Pain Management, and Palliative Medicine." 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM, The Center for Hospice and Palliative Care's Education Center, 225 Como Boulevard, Cheektowaga. Speakers: Balfour M. Mount, CM, OQ, MD, FRCS, LLD, Director, Palliative Care Medicine and Professor of Surgery at McGill University, and Russell Portenoy, MD, Chair of the Department of Pain Management and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City. Registration is $55.00 per person and includes a continental breakfast, breaks, and materials. Call the Life Transitions Center at 836-6460 by October 23 to attend.

Thursday, November 5. "Ethical Issues Arising from Modern Reproductive Technology." Richard Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Rochester. 4:00 PM. Center for Inquiry, 1310 Sweet Home Road, Amherst. Call 636-7571, ext. 218 for further details.

Greater Buffalo Memorial Society Annual Meeting

The Greater Buffalo Memorial Society will hold its annual membership meeting on Sunday, October 18 at 2:30 PM, in the Parish Hall of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, 695 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York. The topic is "Anatomical Gift Program", and the speaker is Dr. Raymond P. Dannenhoffer, Assistant Dean of Support Services for the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at SUNY-Buffalo. Dr Dannenhoffer is also Director of the Gross Anatomy Lab. He has supervised the Anatomical Gift Program since 1987. Knowledge of anatomy is essential for physicians, dentists and other health professionals. The demand for body donations for teaching this information is great. Medical Schools across the country depend on the generosity of citizens to make their bodies available for this necessary education. Dr. Dannenhoffer will discuss the central role anatomy plays in medical education, and the process involved in body donation and whole body donations. This talk is free and open to the general public. For further information, call 837-8636.

Hospice News

"Partners in Palliative Medicine: Blending the Cultures of Hospice and Nursing Home Settings," a full day conference, will be held Thursday, October 8 at the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, 225 Como Park Boulevard, Cheektowaga. Long term care administrators, medical directors, internists, family practice physicians, Hospice physicians, nurses, social workers, pastoral caregivers, therapists, volunteers, and students are all invited to attend. Howard Tuch, MD, director of Palliative Care Services at Genesis ElderCare will provide the keynote speech on "Palliative Medicine in Nursing Homes and the Challenge of Pain and Symptom Management." Bruce Naughton, MD, chief of the Division of Geriatrics at Buffalo General Hospital, will discuss ethical issues in care of the elderly in the nursing home setting. Following a buffet lunch, Cherry Meier, RN, MSN, director of Public Affairs at VITAS Healthcare Corporation, will present on "Care Planning: A Communication Challenge Between Hospice and Nursing Home Staff." J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD, president and CEO of CHPC, will talk about psychosocial care of the terminally ill nursing home resident. Registration for the 9 AM - 4:00 PM conference is $45.00 and includes a continental breakfast, buffet lunch, materials, and breaks. A $200.00 group rate for 6 registrants is also available. The deadline to register is October 2. Call 836-6460 for more information or to register. Continuing education for nurses, nursing home administrators, and social workers is pending. The conference is jointly sponsored by the ACCME-accredited SUNY-Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences for up to 5.5 Category 1 credits toward the AMA's Physician Recognition Award. For further information, call 686-8259.

Conference on Ethics and Health Care

The University of Virginia Olsson Center for Applied Ethics and the Center for Biomedical Ethics will be sponsoring a conference on "Organization Ethics and Health Care", September 25-26, at the Jordan Hall Conference Center, Charlottesville, Virginia. Presentations will address the relation between professional ethics, business ethics, and clinical ethics in today's rapidly changing health care environment. The $50.00 registration fee will include a dinner reception at the University of Virginia's Rotunda. For information, contact: Patricia Werhane, PhD, Darden School, Box 550, Charlottesville, Virginia 22906; phone: 804-924-4840; fax: 804-924-6378; e-mail: Phw2m@virginia.edu.

Conference on Psychiatric, Psychosocial and Ethical Issues in Organ Transplantation

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation will host a conference focusing on psychiatric, psychosocial and ethical issues in organ transplantation, with special reference to organ donation. Speakers include: George Agich, Steven Miles, Robert Arnold, Stuart Youngner and Claude Earl Fox. The conference will occur on October 2-4, 1998 at the Cleveland Marriot Hotel. Registration is $375. For further information, contact Dr. George Agich, Dept. Of Bioethics, Cleveland Clinic.

Conference on Health Care

The Brookings Institution and Walden Institute for Learning and Leadership are presenting a conference entitled "Tomorrow's Health Care: Crossing Boundaries... Finding Solutions", October 18-20, 1998, The Registry Resort, Naples, Florida. It will focus on health care financial trends, and consolidation and quality of care as a competitive issue. Speakers include Mark Goldberg, Distinguished Faculty Fellow, Yale University School of Management; David Satcher, Surgeon General of the United States; Judy Feder, Professor for Health Care Research and Policy, Georgetown University; and Judy Hippler Bello, Executive Vice President for Policy and Strategic Affairs, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The conference fee is $1,500 ($1,395 for registrations posted before August 15). For information, call 1-800-237-6434; online registration: www.waldeninstitute.com.

Conference on Ethics and Professionalism in Managed Care

The National Institutes of Health will sponsor a conference regarding the key professional and ethical issues raised by managed care. This will occur on October 30-31, 1998 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, D.C. Speakers will include: Edmund Pellegrino, Haavi Morreim, Ezekiel Emanuel, Norman Daniels, and Gail Povar. Registration fee is $450. For further information, contact Gary Wackernah, Conference Coordinator: 703-902-1264; email: bioethics@circsol.com

National Ethics Conference

"Research and Decisional Capacity: Responding to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission Report." November 13-15, 1998, Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland. For information, contact: Friends Research Institute, Inc., 8706 Commerce Drive, Suite 1, Eaton, Maryland 21601; phone: 410-763-7620; fax: 410-763-9621; e-mail: info@gbhap.com.

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 September 15th.