Medical Ethics Musings: On Caring

End of Life / /

By R. Henry Williams, M.D., M.A. Chair, Tennessee CBC Board of Directors

Photo:  “Time of Life” by L. Ian Riley

Recently an elderly, long-time patient was brought to my office by his two daughters, who were upset after a visit with his oncologist.  His multiple myeloma and general condition were such that chemotherapy was no longer being recommended.  The oncologist had suggested that they consider hospice care.  The daughters were shocked.  From their perspective, Dad was not in a state of obvious decline, and he was not in any pain.  They expressed to me a feeling of abandonment, and they were turning to me, his ...read more

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Rappaccini’s Daughter Wasn’t Enough, Either

Emerging Technologies / /

D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director The Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture July 2007

In “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne tells us the story of a scientist, Dr. Rappaccini, who is intrigued to the point of obsession with the knowledge of science.  His particular interest is in poisonous plants, for within them, he is convinced, lie “all medicinal virtues.”  He has a daughter, Beatrice, renowned for her beauty, but rarely seen.  That is, until Giovanni Guasconti, student at the University of Padua, comes to live next door.  From his lodgings, Giovanni looks down into an incredible garden, and eventually, glimpses Beatrice Rappaccini there, ...read more

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Transhumanism: Towards Borgification

Emerging Technologies / /

Melanie Unruh, R.N., B.S.N. Intern, The Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture July 2007

“I was born human. But this was an accident of fate…” Such a quote sounds like a great opening to a science-fiction movie, but it is in fact the statement of Kevin Warwick, a professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, England. Warwick belongs to a growing group of scientists and philosophers who consider themselves to be transhumanists. But what exactly is a transhumanist? 

The word transhuman is an abbreviation of the words “transitional human.” The concept implies that we humans are simply a transitional form along the evolutionary ...read more

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Who Is Fit to Practice Medicine?

Medicine & Health / /

First published 13 April 2009; reprinted here by the kind permission of www.bioethics.com (http://bioethics.com/author/jriley/)

Recently, I learned that Sweden is struggling with an important question: who should be trained as a physician? One particular student focuses this discussion. Karl Helge Hampus Svensson was banished a year ago from Sweden’s premier Karolinska Institute on the grounds that he had falsified high school records. Lying is not a noble activity for anyone, especially would-be physicians. Correction was necessary. Mr. Svensson was relieved of his medical student status. It was probably not the lying that caught the attention of the school officials, however. Mr. Svensson, ...read more

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Aids in Africa: Treating the Patient

Africa, Medicine & Health / /

R. Henry Williams, M.D., M.A., F.A.C.P. Board Chair The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture April 2008

Travel to a third world country can challenge one’s perspective in a lot of areas.  Having just returned from Ethiopia, where my wife and I participated in an HIV-AIDS medical project, I have some new bioethics categories to process.

The AIDS Care and Treatment (ACT) Project in Addis Ababa is a comprehensive support ministry to HIV-positive beneficiaries and their families.  Thanks to international funding programs, people with AIDS are being given anti-retroviral drugs through state-run clinics, and they are referred to the Project for assistance in ...read more

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Fatal Attraction? On the Risk of Incest for Children of IVF

Born Human / /

Melanie Unruh, R.N., B.S.N.

Intern, Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture

February 2008

As the month of love rolls in, we are inundated with stories of romance on television, in the news, and even in forwarded e-mails. Among the stranger stories are those like the December report of British twins who unwittingly married each other. Such stories have been the basis of ancient literature as in the legends of King Arthur, or in the current cultural icon of the soap opera. While this story is based on a single reference lacking in detail, its introduction in a debate in the British House of ...read more

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Family Care at the End of Life: A Personal Reflection

End of Life / /

R. Henry  Williams, M.D., M.A. Board Chair Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture December 2007

My father-in-law, Ken Johnson, died this fall at age ninety-five. His life was marked by love, faith, uncommon friendliness, and the greatest smile I have ever known.  

As a physician interested in end-of-life issues, I found Ken’s life and death particularly inspiring and instructive.  Prostate cancer, heart disease, and three strokes gradually eroded his quality of life, but could not take away his love for his wife and family, his faith, or his smile.  Neither did illness erase what we saw in him as a man, a father, a ...read more

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“Spiderman,” “The Fantastic Four,” and “Heroes” Will Not be Airing in Reality

Engineering Humans / /

Melanie Unruh, R.N., B.S.N. Intern, The Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture

November 2007

I admit it. I am a science fiction freak. Although I have never been a reader of comic books, recent movies such as “Spiderman” and “The Fantastic Four,” and the ideas behind the popular television series “Heroes” fascinate me.  As schools have taught that man is the product of genetic evolution, movies and television shows capitalize on this culture, encouraging the idea that we will soon be able to control our own evolution. Most commonly, cultural genetics portrays random mutations or engineered genes as the source of superhuman ...read more

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