Bioethics Update

The links on this page will be updated as we move along in the course. (1-2-09)

-- Here are some study questions from a course in bioethics taught by Dr. Tom Kerns, that may be helpful for discussion. (There's also some good information on his page.)

1-12-06 Some links on ethics committees and a cultural perspective.

	Here's a link to the relevant sections of the Indiana code for consent to medical procedures.
	Arlene Orhon Jech, RN has an interesting online bioethics course for nurses. Of special interest interest for us is the section on hospital ethics committees.
	Here's an interesting site about ethics committees in Canada
	This is a rather thought-provoking talk by George Isajiw, M.D. (Past President, Catholic Medical Association, USA) on differing interpretations of conclusions reached by ethics consultation.
	Here's a discussion of the cross cultural dimensions of bioethics by Reidar K. Lie (1995)
	Vinod K Puri has an interesting article, End-of-life issues for a modern India - Lessons learnt in the West

Regarding medical education, check out what some schools are doing in their curriculum.

	Harvard Medical School
	St. Louis University School of Medicine Saint Louis University School of Medicine has a Code of Professional Conduct for Students
	Medical School at Washington University in St. Louis
	The Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago (see curriculum link)
	Loyola University Medical School in Chicago
	Medical College of Ohio has just revised its curriculum to meet the changing health care needs.

We were also discussing some issues concerning malpractice laws...see Summary of Malpractice Laws -- The Law firm of McCullough, Campbell & Lane have a site that gives physicians (and the public) some of the changes in Malpractice laws. You can access this by states as well.

And here's some interesting sites regarding some of the beginning of life issues...

	See The Commission of Inquiry on Fetal Sentience by Parliament of October 1996. Some interesting information about fetal development.
	Check out Amnionet, an interesting site with some ultrasound images of the developing fetus.
	Cornell Medical Center for Reproductive Medicine has some interesting information about assisted reproductive technologies and success rates for this institution.
	The visible embryo -- here you view the various stages of prenatal development. An interesting site.
	Here another one from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons students on human development (some really interesting photos).

Here are some sites dealing with the genome project

	The Human Genome Project the site of the government's research on the Human Genome. Includes links for education and ethical, legal and social issues and student resources .
	Here's another site on ethical, legal and social issues in science that is geared to students, at secondary education level. Would be some good background information.
	The National Center for Biotechnology Information has a number of very good links as well. Included at this site are: a graph of the number of mapped genes, and a page called featured genes which lists several genetic diseases and their genetic and chromosomal location.
	The Oak Ridge National Laboratory also has a site where you can investigate genetic disorders by chromosome location. Look under the *Identified Genes and Disorders* heading, OMIM Morbid Map (there's a different link for each chromosome.

there are a couple new links (0ther Resources) on the Bioethics links page.

	Read the statements by the USCCB on Emergency Contraception.
	Here are some articles on RU-486 from the USCCB.
	Look at some of the statistics gathered in a study on the effectiveness of Natural Family Planning.

This week we focus on issues at the end of life. Issues of concern include: suffering and dying, criteria for certifying death, brain death, etc.

A web site for medical students in neurology on brain death criteria

From the American Association of Neurosurgeons, a position paper on the determination of death

From the University of Kansas Medical Center's Ethics Committee, a number of informative pages on ethical issues at the end of life

Here's an interesting site called Community Ethics from the University of Pittsburgh with a number of articles on end of life issues, including one called Let's Abolish Brain Death (for another perspective).

Here are some links on issues concerning Physician Assisted Suicide....

Choice in Dying represents the views of some who advocate physician assisted suicide. This organization was the one who first advocated the use of living wills.

The Hemlock Society is another organization who aims to provide "choices" to people at the end of life.

Here is a site from the PBS series on the Kevorkian Verdict from the recent trial in Michigan.

	Read some of Kevorkian's writings here.
	Here's a site from Court TV with some of the legal strategies and verdicts.

Here is a site from the American Society of Anesthesiologists on physician assisted suicide.

Read about some of the ethical issues in PAS in relation to the AMA code of ethics. You can also find a host of other statements on other ethical issues here.

The American Academy for Pain Management has an interesting web site.

There's also information available on the web site of the American Pain Society.

Some issues on Nutrition and Hydration

	Here's a little statement by Kevin O'Rourke on provision of nutrition and hydration (1990).
	Another article by by Kevin O'Rourke and Patrick Norris from the Linacre Quarterly (2001). This one gives a good statement of the various opinions regarding the issue.
	Here's one by Dr. WIlliam May who disagreed with the position of O'Rourke.
	A statement from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.
	An article by Msgr. George Graham form Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

See more about the Oregon Health Plan.

Patient restraints

	A position statement of the Nursing profession on patient restraint.
	From the American College of Emergency Physicians.
	Here's one from the Australian Medical Association on Patient restraint.

Here's an interesting site with some tools to assist in ethical decision making from the school of nursing at Boston College.

Although a bit unrelated to this week, here's a link to an article by Fr. Richard Sparks from St. Anthony Messenger on assisted reproduction.

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Page updated 05/18/2010 by
T. McFarland, C.PP.S., Professor of Religion
Saint Joseph's College.
Questions of comments about this page -- email timm@saintjoe.edu