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Health Care Ethics USA
Summer is upon us, so I wish all our readers some time to rest from the hectic pace of the busy lives we lead in Catholic health care. This summer will be busier than usual at the Center for Health Care Ethics because we are moving locations. Last year, Saint Louis University purchased and renamed the former Incarnate Word hospital that is close to our University Hospital. The new name is the Salus Center (salus, as many of you know, is the latin word for health). So, we are moving from our current location in the School of Nursing to our new space in the Salus Center. We convey sincere gratitude to the School of Nursing for all the kind hospitality that we have received over the years. This relocation of the Center presents an excellent opportunity for us: we will have more space and we will be located beside several clinical departments and the School of Public Health. Naturally, lots of time, energy, and personnel will be involved in packing boxes, and settling into our new space. Fortunately, our PhD program in health care ethics is now fully enrolled so we will have lots of assistance from our doctoral students! Our annual Institutes last Spring were very successful - we presented sessions on "Ethics Foundations" and on "Organizational Ethics". Let me take this opportunity to offer sincere gratitude to all the faculty who presented and to all those who participated in our week-long Institutes in May. It was wonderful to welcome so many new faces as well as to welcome back so many previous participants. Because of the anticipated relocation of the Center over summer and early Fall, we have decided to delay our next Institute until May 2002. When we have more specific plans for that Institute we will send you information accordingly. Another very exciting development at the Center occurs this summer when our new member of faculty arrives. Marian McBay will be a Visiting Assistant Professor for next academic year. Marian's specialty in health care is research ethics, especially with regard to Institutional Review Boards and Ethics Committees. She also has expertise in Public Health ethics. As many of you know, compliance with regard to Institutional Review Boards is becoming increasingly neuralgic and worrisome. With this appointment, our Center plans to pursue a vigorous research agenda on research ethics, including the compliance issues that overshadow this arena. This appointment will enable the Center to work more closely than ever with our Health Sciences Institutional Review Board and our Ethics Committee. Also, Marian's expertise in Public Health ethics will help the Center continue to develop its research and teaching interests in this fast developing field. Marian begins her appointment on July 1 and we offer her the warmest welcome to our Center. Finally, we have great news to announce about one of our faculty. Jim DuBois received tenure at the end of the academic year, so he is now an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Health Care Ethics. Ordinarily, the tenure-track process at our university takes 7 years. Jim has demonstrated his excellent scholarship by completing this process after only 4 years at the Center! Also, Jim began a 9 month research leave at the end of the Spring semester. He will be working on a new book in health care ethics. We wish him every success and enjoyment as he pursues his research and writing. As usual, this issue of Health Care Ethics USA has three essays addressing ethics foundations, organizational ethics, and medical ethics. The first essay, on an exciting topic in medical ethics, is by James DuBois, PhD, DSc. Jim discusses the ethical debate surrounding the controversial issue of prenatal genetic testing and wrongful birth lawsuits. The second essay, on a much-discussed issue that addresses organizational ethics in health care, is by Griffin Trotter, MD, PhD, who is also a member of faculty at our Center. Griffin discusses a topic that has absorbed considerable media attention over the recent months - the ethical debate on AIDS in Africa with regard to patents and intellectual property rights. The third essay, on a significant theme in foundational ethics in health care, is co-authored by two of our PhD students, Kevin E. Voss, M.Div., D.V.M. and Mark Repenshek, MA. The essay discusses relevant principles for physician leadership in the health care community. I hope you enjoy the essays and I look forward to receiving suggestions for topics that we might address in future essays. Professor Gerard Magill, PhD Index | Next: Prenatal Genetic Testing And Wrongful Birth Lawsuits |
From the Director... |
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