ISD II - Subspecialties

Ethics/Humanities/Health Law

Wednesday, June 18, 2003

10:45 a.m. – noon

This package contains:

• “Active and Passive Euthanasia” by James Rachels, a 1972 NEJM article
• “Quality End-of-Life Care: Patients’ Perspectives” by Peter A. Singer et al, a 1999 JAMA article
• “New Painkiller Guideline Proposed for Dying Patients,” a 2002 news story from cbc.ca

You may also want to consult the readings from the Geriatrics session.

Please note that, while the argument contained in Rachels’ classic piece is still worthy of consideration, some details in the article regarding the AMA’s policies are now out of date.

Objectives:

This session will address

· ethical issues in end-of-life care

· the concept of euthanasia

· the ethical controversy over euthanasia

Article Summaries

• Article summaries should be submitted by June 18^th.
• There is the second of two Ethics/Humanities/Health Law sessions during Subspecialties. Your article summary for the Subspecialties course may be based on a reading from this session or the first one.
• Do not write an article summary on the piece from cbc.ca. It is too brief for this to be worthwhile.

Students should ensure they have completed all Ethics/Humanities/Health Law requirements for the ISD II course. Individual grades for the Sub-specialities Course will not be released until all requirements are completed.