Hosted at NYAM, the Metropolitan New York Ethics Network is an extension of the 150-year commitment of the Academy to enhancing the health of the public through education of clinicians, basic and applied research, and policy development and advocacy. NYAM's recent focus has been on "urban health," the study of the multiple factors which impact on the quality of life and health of those people who dwell in cities, with a particular emphasis on the problems of inner city, socially marginalized and vulnerable populations.
Recent programs of the Metropolitan New York Ethics Network include:
"Undocumented Aliens: Testing the Limits of Care"
Ethics Grand Rounds with
Alice Herb, Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Practice and Associate at Law, Division of Humanities in Medicine at State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center
Alice Herb and colleagues discussed the limits of acute care available to people who are undocumented and uninsured, and the issues and challenges that arise upon discharge from the hospital, especially when follow-up or long-term care is necessary.
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Panelists:
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Jean Callahan
Francesca Gany, MD
Carolyn Reinach Wolf, JD
Salvatore J. Russo, JD
Lorraine M. Ryan, JD
Andrea Snelson
Eugenia L. Siegler, MD
"Must We Always Listen to the Health Care Proxy? Can We Define the Tipping Point of Unreasonableness?"
Ethics Grand Rounds with Dr. Kenneth Prager
The wife-proxy of a 66 year old man with traumatic brain injury requests removal of life support despite reasonably good chances for the patient's complete recovery.
Kenneth Prager, MD is Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Director, Clinical Ethics and Chairman of the Medical Ethics Committee of Columbia University Medical Center. He spent two years practicing general medicine on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota after his medical internship. Dr. Prager held clandestine medical clinics in the Soviet Union during a visit in 1986, and later set up the first U.S. - Soviet medical student exchange program between Columbia P&S and the First Moscow Medical Academy. In addition to his pulmonary practice, Dr. Prager is heavily involved in teaching pulmonology and medical ethics to medical students, house officers and nurses. His writings on medicine and medical ethics have appeared on the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as well as in medical journals and textbooks. He lectures extensively on medical ethics. Dr. Prager is on the admissions committee of, and is a regular guest lecturer for, the Ben Gurion University MD Program in International Health and Medicine in collaboration with Columbia University Health Sciences. He is on the Board of Directors of the American Council on Science and Health.
"Should Palliative Sedation to Unconsciousness be Limited to a Treatment of Last Resort?"
Ethics Grand Rounds with
Jeffrey T. Berger, MD, FACP, Associate Professor of Medicine at SUNY Stony Brook
This presentation examined current guidelines on the use of palliative sedation and identified inconsistencies with other treatments in terms of clinical and ethical requirements for use. Recommendations for revised guidelines were offered.
