University at Buffalo

Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care

Bioethics Bulletin

Editor: Tim Madigan
June 1995
Volume Two, Number Six

The Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care

Co-Directors: Gerald Logue, MD and Stephen Wear, PhD
Secretary: Lisa Bolton Address:
The Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care
VAMC
3495 Bailey Avenue
Buffalo, New York 14215

Telephone: 862-3412
FAX: 862-4748

E-mail sent to Lisa Bolten LBolton@ubmedc.buffalo.edu.
Please note that the Center address has been changed, along with its phone and fax numbers: this signals the recent move of the Center to a new suite of offices at the VAMC.

Center Library

The Center is starting a research library, and would appreciate donations of books, articles and journals pertaining to biomedical ethics. These will all be made available for visitors to the Center. Our thanks to Stephen Wear for his recent contribution to this collection.

Newsletter Distribution

The Center newsletter can be delivered to you via e-mail or fax. If you would like to receive the newsletter over the Internet, please forward your request to Jack Freer JFreer@ubmedb.buffalo.edu. If you would like to receive it by fax, call Lisa Bolten at the telephone number above and tell her your fax number. We encourage the use of e-mail and fax distribution rather than paper for the newsletter.

Upcoming Meetings

Community Affairs Committee Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for July 5 from 4:00 - 5:00 PM, in the Erie Community Medical Center board room (third floor). Anyone interested in joining the committee is welcome to attend.

Community Affairs Committee Grand Rounds

The Community 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.

"Issues of Informed Consent for Bone Marrow Transplant in a Developmentally Disabled Patient." Wednesday, June 14, 12:30 PM. Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Administrative Conference Room, Administration Offices, 5 East. For information, contact Catherine A. Lyons, RN at 845-3122.

Discussion Group

If anyone is interested in participating in an informal discussion group dealing with the book How We Die, by Sherwin Nuland, MD, please contact Tim Madigan, timmadigan@aol.com (phone: 877-9428). Indicate whether you would prefer to meet at a specific location, or would like to have an on-line discussion.

Upcoming Lectures

The Eighth Annual Symposium on Aging will be held at Millard Fillmore Hospital (Gates Circle) on Thursday, June 8. Webster Hall, 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM. Topics include: "Health Promotion - The Dawning of a New Era", by Gary Brice, MSW, and "Effective Communication With Nursing Home Residents", by Rosemary Lubinski, PhD. Sponsored by the Auxiliary to the Medical Society of the County of Erie and the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo through the Multidisciplinary Center on Aging. This conference will appeal to a multidisciplinary audience of professionals in the field of aging. The focus will be on the prevention and management of health care problems in the elderly, information on the management of incontinence of urine in women, osteoporosis, recognition of anxiety and depression, and guidance on effective communication. There is a $14 registration fee (includes lunch). Seating is limited, so please register early. For further information, contact Amy Eglowstein, aeglowst@hs2.buffalo.edu Center on Aging, at 862-3421 or 829-3097.
"Enhancing your Presentation With Microsoft Powerpoint." Thursday, June 8, 7:30 AM. Erie County Medical Center, Family Medicine Modular Complex conference room. Presenters: Laurene Tumiel, MS and Heather Hebeler. Sponsored by the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo through the Department of Family Medicine. For further information, contact Heather Hebeler at 898-4743.

"An Overview of the 1991 National Health Interview Survey." Monday, June 15, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Center for Tomorrow, University at Buffalo North Campus. Presenter: John Horm, Chief Statistician. Sponsored by the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo through the Department of Family Medicine. Please contact Maureen Forrester at 898-4745 by June 12 if you wish to attend.

"Legal Issues Pertaining to Health Care Professionals Dealing With HIV Patients." Monday, June 19, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM. Erie Community Medical Center, Smith Auditorium (third floor). Presenter: Jennifer Coleman, Esq. HIV Grand Rounds - sponsored by the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo through the Immunodeficiency Services at Erie County Medical Center. This program has been approved for 1.0 hours of AMA/PRA Category 1 credit. For further information, contact Lori Berds at 898-4119.

Mercy Health System of Western New York and Mercy Hospital of Buffalo present Reverend Richard A. McCormick, S.J., Professor of Christian Ethics, University of Notre Dame. Father McCormick was Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Christian Ethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University (1974-1986) and Professor of Moral Theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago (1957-1974). He lectures frequently throughout the United States on Christian morality, and has appeared on such television programs as _Today_, _Nightline_, and _Meet the Press_. His father, the late Dr. Edward J. McCormick, was president of the American Medical Association. Father McCormick will speak on the topic of Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide. Wednesday, June 21, 3:00 - 4:30 PM. Mercy Hospital Cafeteria. Parking is available in the adjacent Mercy Hospital Ramp. For information and registration, call 828-2750.

"When a Co-Worker is HIV +." Friday, June 23. 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM. Erie County Medical Center, Smith Auditorium (third floor). Presenter: Patrice Mayes, BSN, MBA. HIV Grand Rounds - sponsored by the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo through the Immunodeficiency Services at Erie County Medical Center. This program has been approved for 1.0 hours of AMA/PRA Category 1 credit. For further information, contact Lori Berds at 898-4119.

"Current Activities and Future Plans of the Center for Urban Research in Primary Care." Thursday, June 29, 7:30 AM. Erie County Medical Center, Family Medicine Modular Complex conference room. Presenter: Carlos Jaen, MD. Faculty Development Workshop - sponsored by the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo through the Department of Family Medicine. For further information, contact Heather Hebeler at 898-4743.

Psychiatry Ethics Working Group

The University at Buffalo Department of Psychiatry will be forming a working group to address questions of clinical ethics in the department and to establish a liaison between the Department and the Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care. The working group is being organized by Dr. Ellen Dickinson. Those interested in participating should contact Dr. Jack Freer (887-4852), who will pass on the information to Dr. Dickinson. There will be further details on this group in future newsletters.

Call for Papers

Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario will host two conferences on ethics and the economy, from October 24-26, 1996 and in October, 1997. Both conferences are designed to foster dialogue and ongoing linkages between academics and practioners. They will stress interaction between academic researchers in the field of ethics and practioners in three main sectors of the economy: business, health and education. Each conference will include one satellite session and one session on the internet. The organizing committee invites proposals for papers, workshops, seminars and panel discussions. Please send 3 copies of a one page proposal, clearly defining the objectives, points to be covered, presentation format, required A/V support as well as a short biographical note, to: Dr. Leo Groarke, Dept. of Philosophy, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5. Proposals should be received by July 15, 1995. For further details, contact Leo Groarke at lgroarke@machl.wlul.ca.

The Center for Multiculturalism and Health Care is soliciting original unpublished research on "Multiculturalism and Health: Developing Curricula; Managing Diversity; and Strengthening Institutions," for possible presentation at a conference at the Chautauqua Institution, Summer 1996. Submit to: Essie A. Riley-Eddins, PhD, RN, Editor, The Journal of Multicultural Nursing and Health, PO Box 889, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York, 14722. Phone: 357-2479, Fax: 357- 3193.

Center On-Line

In order to access the Center's on-line services, it is necessary to have a computer account which allows for use of the internet gopher or world wide web (Mosaic, Netscape, etc.). All Center members are eligible for HUBNET (Hospital and UB Network) accounts, but may already have gopher service through other accounts (e.g. ACSU Unix, VAX, IBM). Also, the Buffalo Free-Net has gopher/WWW services. The Center gopher is on the UB Medical School menu (gopher.med.buffalo.edu) and the URL for the Center home page is: The type of gopher or WWW interface varies widely with the system you use. It is probably easier for interested parties to contact Jack Freer directly for instructions if problems arise (he welcomes ALL questions). His e-mail address is jfreer@ubmedb.buffalo.edu and phone is 887-4852.

Center Members

Richard Hull, Professor of Philosophy at the University at Buffalo, will be joining the staff of Buffalo General Hospital as Scholar in Residence during his sabbatical leave, commencing on or about July 1. His responsibilities there will be to write a casebook on cases considered by the Ethics Committee, cross-indexed so as to permit drawing on recommendations and their rationales so as to facilitate decisions in future cases; to assist in institutional policy development; to conduct institutionally-based seminars in biomedical ethics for medical students, interns, residents, and members of other professions; to create a clinical bioethics program for advanced undergraduates and graduate students majoring in philosophy (and perhaps other disciplines as well); and to create and conduct community outreach programs to improve the public's grasp and use of such devices as advanced directives and designation of medical decision making agents or proxies.

Recent Publications by Center Members

Joanna Pasek, University College, London, reviewed Stephen Wear's book _Informed Consent: Patient Autonomy and Physician Beneficence Within Clinical Medicine_ in the British journal _The Journal of Medical Ethics_ (Volume 23, no. 2, April 1995), pp. 119-120.

The Center is collecting publications from its members, to have on file. If you have published an article or book dealing with medical ethics in the past five 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 June 15th.