A New Era at the Center for Practical Bioethics

John G. Carney

It's a new era at the Center for Practical Bioethics with a new president and chief executive officer.

John G. Carney succeeded the Center's founding executive, Myra Christopher, in late 2011. 

In his first public appearance as the new CEO, Carney spoke about his philosophy and his plans before some 600 people at the Center's annual dinner April 19, 2012 in Kansas City. He is introduced by Cynthia Spaeth, the Center's board chair.

The Best Care Possible

Dr. Ira Byock, one of the foremost palliative-care physicians in the country, argues that how we die is among the biggest national crises facing us today. Dr. Byock makes that case in a new book, The Best Care Possible. (To purchase your copy click here at Rainy Day Books.)

In addressing the sorry state of dying in America, politics has trumped reason. Dr. Byock explains that to ensure the best possible care for those we love—and eventually ourselves—we must not only remake our healthcare system, we must also move past our cultural aversion to talking about dying and acknowledge the fact of mortality once and for all.

In so doing, we can live emotionally authentic, healthier, and more joyful lives.

Dr. Byock brought this message to Kansas City April 19, 2012, as the keynote speaker for the Annual Dinner of the Center for Practical Bioethics.

ReMinding Us about Injured Military Veterans



Lee Woodruff

Lee Woodruff
Up to Date – KCUR Radio
April 19, 2012

Lee Woodruff's life was profoundly changed starting in 2006 when her husband, reporter Bob Woodruff, took over for Peter Jennings as co-anchor of ABC's World News Tonight. But the events of a month later changed her - and Bob's life - forever.

These days, Lee and Bob Woodruff continue their journalistic activities and focus their energies on ReMIND, the public education movement of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. ReMIND is dedicated to heal the physical and psychological wounds of war.

On Up to Date on KCUR Radio, Steve Kraske talks with Lee Woodruff about ensuring our nation’s injured service members, veterans and their families return to a homefront ready to support them, and tells us about how they help support the needs of injured service members, veterans and their families as they reintegrate into their communities.

Today is the Day: Appoint Someone to Speak for You

Today is National Healthcare Decisions Day, the day to appoint someone to speak for you when you can no longer speak for yourself during a serious illness or the end of life.

Over the past six weeks, the Center for Practical Bioethics has been promoting this message in conjunction with Crossroads Hospice with 30 second commercials on KMBZ Radio and with a one hour program on the subject on April 7th.

Talk about it today with the person who will speak for you. For help, download a copy of Caring Conversations, a booklet that guides you through the conversation and provides legal documents to make it official.

Have "The Talk." You won't regret it.

The Ethics of Disaster Unpreparedness

Kevin B. O'Reilly
American Medical News
April 9, 2012

In the event of a catastrophe such as pandemic flu that results in a shortage of ventilators, hard choices will have to be made about who gets the high-tech breathing help. Ethical and legal “crisis standards of care” should be triggered by predefined indicators of disaster, yet few states have taken action to implement such a process, said the Institute of Medicine report.

Links:

Article: Most communities unprepared for disasters, American Medical News, April 9, 2011

Audio Podcast: Ethics of Caring in a Disaster, Nelda Godfrey, RN, The Bioethics Channel, November 18, 2011

You Tube interviews of presenters at Center disaster ethics symposium, December 7, 2011

A Status Report on Clinical Ethics

MC Sullivan
Myra Christopher

Where have we been, where are we going when it comes to clinical ethics and hospital ethics committees? In this edition of The Bioethics Channel, Lorell LaBoube examines the past and present with two individuals who helped launch hospital ethics committees and work in that arena today.

Religion and Medicine: A Good Mix?

This news release reminded me of a couple of excellent podcasts with Sister Rosemary Flanigan and Drs. John Lantos and Farr Curlin. Dr. Sulmasy spoke at the 2009 Flanigan Lecture in Kansas City.

New program will study the role of religion in practicing medicine

News Release: University of Chicago Medical Center
April 2, 2012

"We want to look at the spirituality of being a practitioner, rather than focusing completely on the spirituality of being a patient," said Daniel Sulmasy, MD, PhD. "This new program will jump start scholarship and teaching at the intersection of medicine and religion."

Links:

* News Release, New program will study the role of religion in practicing medicine
* Podcast: Religion. Healthcare Policy. Do the Twain Meet? Rosemary Flanigan, The Bioethics Channel

* Podcast: Religion and Medicine: Compatible? John Lantos, MD and Farr Curlin, MD, The Bioethics Channel

Top Ten - The Bioethics Channel March 2012

The Bioethics Channel, the weekly podcast produced by the Center for Practical Bioethics, produced 4,153 downloads in March 2012. Since launching the program in February 2009, more than 200 editions have been produced resulting in more than 115,000 downloads overall.

Here’s the Top Ten listing for March. Thanks to all for your support.

L2

*Promise and Pitfalls: Healthcare Handoffs, Penny Feldman
*A Tale of Two Headlines, John Carney
*Hope in Pediatric Palliative Care, Chris Feudtner, MD
*Treating Pain in Central MO, Joseph Pierle, Karl Haake and Richard Lillard
*Health Reform: One Community at a Time, Michael Felix
*Adding an Agent to “The Talk," Sandy Silva and Helen Emmott
*Ashley X Revisited, John Lantos, MD
*The Ethics of OctoMom, John Lantos, MD
*The Best Care Possible, Ira Byock, MD
*Medical Futility: Wrong Medicine?, Lawrence Schneiderman, MD