Institute of Catholics Bioethics

“Dying in America: Is the “Fragile Consensus” Eroding?

Location :     McShain Hall/Haub Executive Center, 5th Floor
Time :           7:00 PM, October 7, 2009
Speaker:       Ronald P. Hamel, Ph.D.

Dr. Hamel is currently the Senior Director of Ethics Catholic Health Association of the United States. He has lectured widely to health care professionals, has served on numerous hospital ethics committees, was a member of the Health Care Ethics Commission of the Archdiocese of Chicago, serves as resource ethicist to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists and is a fellow in the Institute of Medicine of Chicago. Dr. Hamel has authored many articles in health care ethics and has edited several books. Among them are:

1. Introduction to Christian Ethics: A Reader (Paulist, 1989)
2. A Matter of Principles? (Trinity, 1994)
3. Must We Suffer Our Way to Death? (SMU, 1995)
4. Three Levels of Managed Care (Sheed & Ward, 1997)
5. Making Health Care Decision: A Catholic Guide (Liguori, 2006)
6. Artificial Nutrition and Hydration and the Permanently Unconscious Patient: The Catholic Death (Georgetown, 2007)

In October 2001, Dr. Hamel received the Kevin O’Rourke award from the Gateway Catholic Ethics Network in St. Louis for his contributions to Catholic health care ethics. He is the principal author of CHA’s multimedia resource Harnessing the Promise of Genomics: Resources for Catholic Health Ministry.

Physician Assisted Suicide: "Death with Dignity" 
Panel Discussion

Time: 4 PM, Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Location:  Campion Student Center  Forum Theatre

The greatest human freedom is to live, and die, according to one's own desires and beliefs. The most common desire among those with a terminal illness is to die with some measure of dignity. From advance directives to physician-assisted dying, death with dignity is a movement to provide options for the dying to control their own end-of-life care.

Panel Members Include:

Senator Daylin Leach, - Pennsylvania State Senator, Proposed Senate Bill 404. 
Kevin Fleming, M.D.- Director, Family Practice, Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center
Ted Furton, Ethicist - National Catholic Bioethic Center
June Pearlberg, R.N., BSN - Hospice Representative, Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care of PA

For more information on Senator Daylin's proposal please click here.

Religion and Medicine Series 

How Do They Impact Your Well Being?

To help understand the importance of how religion impacts on medicine, the Institute of Catholic Bioethics is inaugurating a 2 year lecture series that will explore the roles of various religions on the medical profession.

In addition to the amazing technological advances in the field of Medicine, there is mounting evidence of the importance of faith and religion in maximizing the health of patients. The association of medicine and religion dates back to biblical times.

Lecture Series #4 – The Role of Dianetics in Reforming the Physical and Mental Health Industries

Location:  Campion Student Center, Forum Theatre
Time:        4 PM
Date:         February 3, 2010
Speaker:   Christopher Owens, "Director of Public Contact for the Church of Scientology of Pennsylvania"
Related link : http://www.dianetics.org
                        www.Scientology.org
                     _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mercy Philadelphia Hospital cordially invites you to attend the Eighth Annual
C. Jules Rominger, MD Lecture