Clinical Ethics Center- CEC
Human Values & Ethics Committee - HVEC
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DESCRIPTION
The so-called Dutch experiment with euthanasia has been much
analyzed, criticized, and discussed in American medical and
nursing journals and in the public media. This interest is
fueled by the continued activity of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in
Michigan, confessions by physicians like Timothy Quill (in
New England Journal of Medicine), and developments
in law such as Oregon's Proposition 16, Death with Dignity
Act, that legalizes physician-asssited suicide.This workshop
is an opportunity to explore with two experts on medical ethics
and medical practice in the Netherlands the practice and the
problems associated with euthanasia in the Netherlands. By
comparing and contrasting the Dutch system of medical and
nursing care and the place of euthanasia therein with the
American medical and nursing attitudes towards pain control,
suffering, patient and family rights, we hope to increase
the level of understanding of the complex ethical issues that
are involved in the care of seriously ill patients with chronic
or terminal illness.
OBJECTIVES
Familiarize health care providers with developments in the
law and professional standards surrounding euthanasia and
assisted suicide.
Address the ethical issues involved in responding to intractable
pain and suffering of terminally ill patients.
Discuss the relationship of the ethics of withholding and
withdrawing care to cases of active intervention and assistance
in dying.
Review the ambiguities associated with current practices of
withholding and withdrawing life support in light of the distinction
between killing and letting die.
Address the question of the health provider responsibilities
when the patient's quality of life and suffering are intolerable.
Understand the integrated view of end of life decision making
that characterizes the Dutch practice.
Assess the importance of hospice care and pain management
for terminally ill patients.
Identify problematic surrogate, family, and community interests
at the end of life.
TARGET AUDIENCE
All health care personnel interested
in the complex issues surrounding end of life decision making
and the specific issue of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
This workshop will be of particular interest to physicians
and nurses working in critical care, hospice, home health,
and nursing home settings, as well as clergy, hospital and
nursing home administrators and other health care professionals
interested in end of life care.
PRESENTATIONS/SPEAKERS
"Euthanasia: The Second Phase: Integrating the Act
in Medical Institutions and Home Care Programs" - Gerrit
K. Kimsma, M.D., M.Ph.
Lecturer in Medical Ethics and Family
and Nursing Home Medicine, Free University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands.
"The Values Involved In Medical Decision Making Towards
The End Of Life" - Evert van Leeuwen, Ph.D.
Chairman of the Department of Philosophy
and Medical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Free University of
Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
"A Critical
Look at American and Dutch Terminal Care" - George J.
Agich, Ph.D.
Professor of Medical! Humanities and
Psychiatry, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine,
Springfield, Illinois and Director of the Clinical Ethics
Center, Memorial Medical Center, Springfield, Illinois.
"General Discussion" - Theodore LeBlang, J.D.
Professor and Chairman, Department of
Medical Humanities, Southern Illinois University School of
Medicine, Springfield, Illinois.
"The Status of Physician Assisted Suicide in
the United States" - Bethany Spielman, Ph.D., J.D.
Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities,
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield,
Illinois.
"American Values and Traditions in Medicine and Death"
- Andrew J. Varney, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Medical Humanities,
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield,
Illinois and Chair of the Human Values and Ethics Committee,
Memorial Medical Center, Springfield, Illinois.
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Questions or comments - email us at Clinical
Ethics Center
Last Updated
May 24, 2007
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