The Jerome Medalie

End Of Life Issues Study Group

Chairperson: Thomas Duffy, Prof. of Internal Medicine; Director, Program for Humanities in Medicine

Advisory Group: Constance Donovan, Associate Clinical Professor, School of Nursing

Louis Gonzalez, Connecticut Hospice Administrator & Director of Continuing Education

W. Scott Long, Assoc. Clinical Prof. of Internal Medicine

Mark Mercurio, Assoc. Prof. of Pediatrics

Carol Pollard, Associate Director, Bioethics Center

David Smith, Director, Bioethics Center

Sally Smith, SSD, President, Seniors Have Dreams Too, Inc.

Four cardinal principles of bioethics are autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. This year we will be continuing last year’s focus on the principle of justice.        

Justice is defined, for our purposes, as the fair distribution of healthcare among those who need or will need it. The emphasis in such discussions is often on protection of guaranteed access and adequate service for those who have inherited or acquired developmental problems, low socioeconomic status, uncommon religious beliefs, or homo or bi-sexual orientation. Discrimination on account of specific disease, gender, race and age unfortunately still occurs.                  

The group meets from 5:30 to 7 PM at 77 Prospect, Rm A002 unless otherwise noted.  Dinner will be provided.

The schedule for 2009-2010 is as follows:

September 1st: Nancy Berlinger, PhD, Deputy Director and Research Scholar, The Hastings Center

Discussant: David H. Smith

Conscientious Objection and Moral Distress

October 6th: Kathryn L. Tucker, JD, Director of Legal Affairs, Compassion & Choices

Discussants: James Silk (Yale Law School); Thomas Duffy; David H. Smith
Co-sponsor: Yale Law School’s Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights

Dignity, Liberty, and Human Rights at the Very End of Life

November 3rd - PANEL

**Matthew S. Ellman, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine/General Medicine, Yale School of Medicine
**Julie R. Rosenbaum, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine and Waterbury Hospital Health Center, Waterbury, CT
**Emily Cherlin, MSW, Yale School of Medicine
**Margaret Bia, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine/Nephrology; Director of the Clinical Skills Training Program, Yale School of Medicine

Discussant: Scott Long

Effectiveness of an Integrated Ward-based Program in Preparing Medical Students to care for Patients at the End-of-Life

December 1st: John P. Lizza, PhD, Professor and Chair of Philosophy, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania,
Kutztown, PA

Discussant: David H. Smith

Definition of Death: The Current State of the Debate

February 2nd: David Ross-Russell, MD, ProHealthMD

Discussant: Thomas Duffy

Prognostication: Meaning and Interpretation of an Imprecise Science

March 2nd: John Arras, PhD, Professor of Philosophy; Director of the Bioethics Undergraduate Program, University of Virginia

Discussant: David H. Smith

Justice and Health Care

March 25th
The Jerome Medalie Lecture
Timothy Quill, MD, Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry and Medical Humanities, Center for  Ethics,  Humanities and Palliative Care, University of Rochester School of Medicine

Discussants: Thomas Duffy; Scott Long; David H. Smith
Co-sponsors: Yale Cancer Center, Yale Humanities in Medicine Program, Yale Pediatric Ethics Program

Lecture to be given on a Thursday, at the Child Study Center's Cohen Auditorium, 230 Frontage Rd.

Justice at End-of-Life

April 6th: John D. Lantos, MD, John B. Francis Chair in Bioethics, Center for Practical Bioethics, Kansas City, Kansas
Discussant: Mark Mercurio

Lecture to be given at the Child Study Center's Cohen Auditorium, 230 Frontage Rd.

Extreme Prematurity

RSVP to bioethics.center@yale.edu if you wish to attend.