The following articles were published in Health Progress in the past several years. Refer to the annual indexes in each December issue of Health Progress for more complete listings of articles on healthcare ethics.
AIDS
Callahan, Sidney, "Does the AIDS Crisis Justify Explicit Sex Education Ads?" January-February 1988, pp. 18, 20. Analyzes liberal and conservative arguments on the morality of promoting open discussion of sexual conduct and AIDS.
Cassidy, Judy, "AIDS Raises Five Ethical Issues for Administrators," January-February 1988, p. 26. Discusses patient consent and end-of-life treatment decision issues raised by the AIDS epidemic.
O'Rourke, Rev. Kevin D., OP, and deBlois, Sr. Jean, CSJ, "The Right to Know," December 1991, pp. 39-43. Examines ethical issues related to mandatory testing of healthcare workers for HIV.
Biomedical Research
Callahan, Sidney, "Cooperating with Evil," May 1989, pp. 12-14. Asserts that using knowledge gained from Nazi physicians' experiments on prisoners or tissue from aborted fetuses is morally unacceptable because it encourages continuance of such practices.
Friedman, Emily, "Teach Your Children Well," October 1990, pp. 20-24. Explains why moral vigilance is necessary to ensure that biomedical research does not victimize human subjects.
O'Rourke, Rev. Kevin D., OP, "Two Ethical Approaches to Research on Human Beings," October 1988, pp. 48-51, 58. Compares Church teaching concerning research on human beings with that of certain national and international study groups.
Concepts and Principles
Callahan, Sidney, "Ethical Blocks and Biases," January-February 1989, pp. 18, 22. Suggests that examining one's own predispositions is an essential part of any ethical analysis.
Callahan, Sidney, "Reason for Interest," January-February 1991, pp. 76, 86. Examines shades of meaning in the term "interest" as used in ethical debates and explores how the concept can and should be used.
Callahan, Sidney, "Sanctity and Quality of Life Deserve Equal Commitment," June 1988, pp. 75-76. Argues that, when properly defined, the concepts of sanctity of life and quality of life can be used as mutual correctives in ethical analyses.
Callahan, Sidney, "The Slippery Slope: Confusing But Indispensable," September 1988, pp. 17-18. Clarifies the "slippery slope" concept and examines its use in ethical analysis.
Dougherty, Charles J., "The Excesses of Individualism," January-February 1992, pp. 22-28. Critiques excessive forms of individualism characteristic of late-twentieth century America, and argues that true healthcare reform will require a renewed sense of community.
Drane, James F., "Medical Ethics in the 1990s," September 1991, pp. 29-37. Explores issues and describes principles that will become increasingly important to medical ethicists in the near future.
Drane, James F., "Noblesse Oblige," April 1990, pp. 26-27. Describes a debate among ethicists concerning the importance of autonomy, integrity, clinical freedom, and broader social issues in medical treatment decisions.
Overberg, Rev. Kenneth R., SJ, "Collaboration Needed in Discussion of Ethical Issues," March 1988, pp. 90-92. Clarifies the role of Church authority in teaching about healthcare ethics.
Trau, Jane Mary, and McCartney, Rev. James J., "In the Best Interest of the Patient," April 1993, pp. 50-56. Explains the contexts and issues ethicists must consider before determining a person's "best interests."
Tuohey, Rev. John F., "Balancing Benefit and Burden," January-February 1989, pp. 77-79. Advocates a closer examination of the principle of treatment benefits in medical-ethical decision making.
Weber, Leonard J., "The Patient as Citizen," June 1993, pp. 12-15. Argues that using a common-good or community-based ethic for making treatment decisions provides a needed counterbalance to the emphasis on patient desires.
Corporate Ethics
Baginski, Yvonne, and Bayley, Corrine, "A System of Values," January-February 1990, pp. 93-95. Describes the values integration program at St. Joseph's Health System, Orange, CA.
Boyle, Philip, "Outcome Data and Ethics: Getting Doctors to Pay Attention," May 1992, pp. 70-71. Discusses methods for establishing ethical administrative policies regarding physician practice patterns.
Callahan, Sidney, "Whistle-blowing: An Ethical Dilemma," November 1988, pp. 18-20. Suggests that employees should have the moral courage to call attention to problems and abuses but must first examine their motives for doing so.
Cretelli Schick, Ida, and Schick, Thomas A., "In the Market for Ethics," October 1989, pp. 72-76. Shows how marketing can be an effective tool for extending Catholic healthcare facilities' core values.
Hanley, Kevin F., "Partners at Work," January-February 1990, pp. 82-85. Explores some major elements of Catholic social teaching regarding managers' responsibilities to workers.
Lappetito, Sr. Joanne, RSM, "CHA Task Force Helps Managers Make Values-based Decisions," September 1993, pp. 14-15. Outlines a process for analyzing and addressing ethical issues.
Naber, Mary M., "Louder Than Words," January-February 1990, pp. 79-81, 103. Explains how Wheaton Franciscan Services, Inc., Wheaton, IL, developed a set of corporate ethics standards.
Neale, Ann, "Aligning IDNs' Financial Interests with Communities' Best Interests," October 1993, pp. 14-15, 47. Describes the steps IDN administrators must take to ensure their organizations promote the best interest of the communities they serve.
Sanborn II, A. Beckwith, and Hanley, Kevin V., "Finder's Fees," March 1989, pp. 46-49. Argues it is unethical, and possibly illegal, for corporate officers of not-for-profit healthcare facilities to receive fees for arranging the sale of their facilities.
Tamborini-Martin, Susan, and Hanley, Kevin V., "The Importance of Being Ethical," June 1989, pp. 24-27, 82. Presents principles for promoting corporate ethics in healthcare.
Tomczyk, Dennis, "Flattery Will Get You Nowhere," May 1990, pp. 66-68. Suggests that some methods of employee recognition conflict with basic Catholic values.
Weber, Leonard J., "The Business of Ethics," January-February 1990, pp. 76-78, 102. Examines key values informing business ethics issues.
Weber, Leonard, "A Positive View of Lobbying," November 1993, pp. 64, 66. Asserts that lobbying is a legitimate method of advocating for a just and effective healthcare system.
Ethics Committees
Allen, Sr. Cheryl, SSJ, and Ross, Gary E., "The Policy Forum," April 1989, pp. 48-49. Argues that a facility's ethics committee may be the most appropriate vehicle for establishing policies on complex treatment issues.
Callahan, Sidney, "Ethics by Committee?" October 1988, pp. 76-78. Endorses ethics committees as an important decision-making resource but also warns of some problems.
Cassidy, Judy, "Ethics Committees' Future Role," July-August 1990, pp. 27-28. Explores ethics committees' limits and responsibilities in treatment decisions.
Haddad, Amy Marie, "A Source of Support," January-February 1991, pp. 60-63. Describes how a nursing bioethics committee gave nurses a greater voice in policy and treatment decisions.
Kelly, Cornelius, and Lazaroff, Alan, "Learning to Pay Attention," November 1993, pp. 40-43, 52. Details the process a system's ethics committee went through to sharpen its understanding of nursing home residents' day-to-day concerns.
Lappetito, Sr. Joanne, RSM, and Thompson, Paula, "Today's Ethics Committees Face Varied Issues," November 1993, pp. 34-39, 52. Reports on a CHA survey revealing the widening scope of issues and responsibilities ethics committees now face.
Rauh, J. Randall, and Bushy, Angeline, "Biomedical Conflicts in the Heartland," March 1990, pp. 80-83. Describes an ethics committee at Presentation Health Care System, Sioux Falls, SD.
Sullivan, Sr. Patricia, RSM, and Egan, Sr. Maureen, RSM, "A Measure of Growth," November 1993, pp. 44-47, 52. Discusses a process used by a system's corporate ethics committee to assess its performance and plan for the future.
Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide
Callahan, Sidney, "The Limits on Self-Destruction," April 1992, pp. 72-73. Asserts that arguments for a moral right to commit suicide overemphasize individual sovereignty.
Gula, Rev. Richard M., SS, "The Virtuous Response to Euthanasia," December 1989, pp. 24-27. Explains that the Catholic community can best oppose euthanasia by caring for the dying with compassion and dignity.
Hooyman, Nancy W., "Does Compassion Include Euthanasia?" March 1993, pp. 44-47. Warns that physicians' roles vis-à-vis terminally ill patients can create the illusion that euthanasia is a humane option.
McCartney, Rev. James J., OSA, "Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Elements of Church Teaching," January-February 1992, pp. 73, 82. Reviews the Church's basic positions on euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Place, Rev. Michael D., "Why We Should Not Legalize Euthanasia," March 1993, pp. 39-43, 70. Maintains that our moral heritage compels us to translate the foundational principle obliging us to protect life into a concrete norm.
Post, Stephen G., "American Culture and Euthanasia," December 1991, pp. 32-38. Argues that the best way to combat the movement toward euthanasia and assisted suicide is to create a system of caring.
Tuohey, Rev. John F., "Mercy: An Insufficient Motive for Euthanasia," October 1993, pp. 51-53. Asserts euthanasia cannot be defended as an act of mercy because a moral act also requires the use of reason and judgment.
Genetics
Callahan, Sidney, "X Versus Y: Should Parents Choose?" June 1989, pp. 20-21. Argues that endorsement of a parental right to choose their children's sex dangerously overvalues the importance of gender identity in personhood.
McCartney, Rev. James J., OSA, "The Human Genome Project," December 1992, pp. 20-21. Explores the ethical challenges that will arise as scientists complete the map of the human genome.
McManus, Sr. Margaret Ann, RSM, "Genetic Counseling in Catholic Hospitals," October 1990, pp. 63-65. Argues that advances in knowledge of human genetics oblige Catholic hospitals to provide counseling regarding genetic diseases.
Long-Term Care
Walsh, Mary Ann, "Home Sweet Homes," March 1990, pp. 35-38. Explores ethical issues that arise in daily nursing home operations.
Whiteneck, Sr. Margaret Rose, CBS, "Forum Allows LTC Facilities to Face Ethical Issues Together," March 1988, pp. 82-84. Describes an interfacility study group that helps administrators, nurses, admissions officers, and social workers address ethics issues in long-term care.
Organ Transplantation
Benjamin, Martin, "Medical Ethics and Economics of Organ Transplantation," March 1988, pp. 47-52. Examines whether organ transplants should be available to all, regardless of ability to pay.
Shannon, Thomas, "Transplantation Tragedies," November 1992, pp. 14-16. Argues for a policy that excludes infants with anencephaly and similarly situated individuals from being organ donors.
Technology
Lappetito, Sr. Joanne, RSM, "Technology: A Moral Evaluation," January-February 1993, pp. 48-49. Explores ethical questions on the use of technology from both a large, social perspective and the perspective of its impact on medical practice.
Schindler, Thomas F., and McCarthy, Rev. Jeremiah J., "The Dark Side of Technology," October 1989, pp. 28-31. Investigates the kind of vision ethicists need to appreciate the value of technology while remaining alert to its potential for harm.
Treatment Decisions
Brodeur, Rev. Dennis, "The Ethics of Cruzan," October 1990, pp. 42-47. Critiques the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Cruzan decision.
Callahan, Sidney, "Ethical Issues of Unconventional Therapies," September 1993, pp. 42-43. Looks at ethical issues alternative medicine poses for researchers, providers, and patients.
Callahan, Sidney, "Timely Arguments," April 1991, pp. 73, 78. Explores the relevance of a person's prospects for future development in ethical debates about abortion and end-of-life treatment decisions.
"Care of the Dying: A Catholic Perspective" (four parts), March 1993, pp. 34-38, 70; April 1993, pp. 16-21, 41; May 1993, pp. 22-26, 31; June 1993, pp. 46-54. Excerpts a CHA document that clarifies and extends the insights of Catholic theological teaching to address issues at the end of life.
deBlois, Sr. Jean, CSJ; McGrath, Mary; and O'Rourke, Rev. Kevin D., OP, "Advance Directives for Healthcare Decisions," July-August 1991, pp. 27-31. Provides a Christian perspective on advance directives, with a sample form for appointing durable power of attorney.
Deatrick, Janet A., Woodring, Barbara C., and Tollefson, Tracy L., "Children Should Be Seen and Heard," April 1990, pp. 76-79. Urges that chronically ill children be given a voice in treatment decisions.
Devine, Rev. Richard J., CM, "Save the Body, Lose the Soul," June 1989, pp. 68-72. Maintains that Catholic healthcare professionals should respect Jehovah's Witnesses' right to refuse a blood transfusion.
Dougherty, Charles J., "A Life-and-Death Decision: The Lakeberg Twins," November 1993, pp. 16, 30. Questions whether a decision to surgically separate conjoined twins constituted an unjust allocation of resources and whether the parents' consent was informed.
Drane, James F., "Playing God in the NICU," March 1989, pp. 26-31. Discusses issues involved in developing guidelines for treatment of severely handicapped infants.
Grimaldi, Paul L., "A Call to Revolution," July-August 1990, pp. 32-34. Presents ethical issues raised in Daniel Callahan's What Kind of Life: The Limits of Medical Progress.
Gula, Rev. Richard M., SS, "Quality of Life: A Focus on the Patient's Total Good," July-August 1988, pp. 34-39, 84. Argues that the quality-of-life factor used in making treatment decisions should refer to the patient's definition of meaningful survival.
Gula, Rev. Richard M., SS, "Should Money Matter?" September 1990, pp. 18-19, 27. Asserts that it is morally acceptable to refuse treatment if the financial burden it creates outweighs the benefit.
Longo, Daniel R.; Warren, Matthew; Roberts, James S.; and Dunlop, George R., "Extent of DNR Policies Varies across Healthcare Settings," June 1988, pp. 66-73. Provides a statistical study of do-not-resuscitate policies of U.S. healthcare providers.
McCardle, D. Robert, and Bader, Sr. Diana, OP, "Confronting Conflict," April 1991, pp. 31-35. Describes the process a nursing home's staff went through in deciding to acquiesce to an elderly patient's refusal of nutrition.
Meeker, Tobias, "Decision Tree," March 1993, pp. 48-51. Presents a process (and diagram) for deciding when to withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment.
Middleton, Carl L., "Rights and Respect," March 1991, pp. 38-44. Explores ethical issues that arise in performing clinical evaluations of psychiatric patients.
Miles, John, "Choosing an Advance Directive," July-August 1991, pp. 24-26. Addresses issues providers must consider in making advance directive forms available to patients and provides a sample form.
Miles, Steven H., "Autonomy's Responsibility," December 1991, pp. 30-31, 62. Examines the private and public dimensions of various parties' rights to make healthcare decisions in light of the insistence of Helga Wanglie's family that she continue to receive medical care.
Mitchell, Jr., John J., "From Ethical Dilemmas to Hospital Policy," November 1991, pp. 22-26 (with responses from Sr. Diana Bader, OP, pp. 27-29, and John Miles, pp. 29-30). Presents a hospital's policy for withholding, limiting, or discontinuing artificially provided hydration and/or nutrition, along with the assumptions that guided the policy's formulation.
O'Rourke, Rev. Kevin D., OP, "Evolution of Church Teaching on Prolonging Life," January-February 1988, pp. 28-35. Summarizes Catholic teachings on when a duty exists to preserve life.
O'Rourke, Rev. Kevin D., OP, and deBlois, Sr. Jean, CSJ, "Removing Life Support: Motivations, Obligations," July-August 1992, pp. 20-27, 38. Critiques some of the assumptions of the statement on artificial nutrition and hydration issued by NCCB Committee for Pro-Life Activities.
"Pain Management," January-February 1993, pp. 30-39, 65. Report of a CHA task force discusses social and clinical issues that arise in providing pain relief to dying patients.
Tauer, Carol A., "Lives at Stake," September 1992, pp. 18-27. Presents an ethical framework for determining the circumstances under which it would be morally permissible to compel a pregnant woman to submit to invasive medial procedures against her will.