Bioethics on Air

Jeffrey Burger, MD, and Steven Bozza discuss the moral permissibility of safe infection sites. They evaluate the effectiveness of such sites as part of the treatment continuum for opioid addiction and consider the concept of a safe injection site in light of ethical principles and Catholic social teaching.

Joseph Meaney, the new president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, describes his perspective on the future challenges facing Catholic bioethics in the United States, as well as how his previous work with Human Life International will inform his approach at the NCBC.

Becket Gremmels, system director of ethics at Christus Health, in Irving, Texas, discusses the contribution of ethics services to mission of Catholic health care.

John Brehany, the director of institutional relations at The National Catholic Bioethics Center, continues his discussion on the revisions to part 6 of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs), in particular, the emphasis on the term “witness” and what this means for Catholic health care.

John Brehany, the director of institutional relations at The National Catholic Bioethics Center, discusses the revisions to part 6 of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs), which pertains to collaborative relationships between Catholic and non-Catholic institutions.

John Brehany, the director of institutional relations at The National Catholic Bioethics Center, provides an overview of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs), including their purpose and history and a summary of the document’s six sections.

Physician assistant Kris Correira returns for the second part of her interview on assisted suicide. In this episode, Ms. Correira explains how the mentality of assisted suicide leads to undertreatment through the misapplication of do-not-resuscitate orders and advance directives, and she discusses the future of assisted suicide in the United States.

Kris Correira, a physician assistant, in Worchester, Massachusetts, describes why medical professionals are adopting a more positive attitude toward assisted suicide. She explains how this is attributable in part to social factors that promote a mentality of assisted suicide.

Barry Masa, CEO of LifeCenter Organ Donor Network, explains the role that organ procurement organizations play in ensuring the ethical retrieval and allocation of organs. He also addresses some persistent concerns about organ transplantation in general.

Tony Aretz, the president of the University of Providence, in Great Falls, Montana, discusses the challenges and unique benefits of implementing Catholic mission formation in health care education.

Dr. Bennet Omalu, the first physician to observe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), discusses how faith has influenced his understanding of the ethical implications of traumatic brain.

Fr. Benedict Guevin examines whether it is permissible to deactivate a pacemaker, which differs from other medical devices in some crucial, ethically relevant aspects.

Sr. Dolores Liptak, RSM, shares the stories of Catholic Nuns who volunteered as nurses in both the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Hillary Byrnes, an attorney for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, provides insight into the controversial HHS Contraception and Sterilization Coverage Mandate as well as the religious liberty concerns with the original mandate and the subsequent accommodation. She also describes the recent exemption granted by the Trump administration.

Attorney Cameo Anders explains the issues that POLST (physician orders for life-sustaining treatment) is meant to solve and those it raises.

Attorney Cameo Anders discusses how to properly identify a surrogate and use advance directives like living wills and health care powers of attorney to ensure ethical health care decision making after injury or at the end of life.

Bioethicist John Di Camillo explains the principle of double effect and illustrations its application through a number of case studies.

Dr. Mary Shivanandan discusses the profound effect of postmodernism on our understanding of the human person. She then presents an alternative, after-modernism, which is grounded in the personalism of Pope St. John Paul II.

Ethicist Edward Furton discusses the Catholic response to transgender ideology as well as the clinical challenges associated with transgender patients.

Ethicist Edward Furton discusses the significance of replacing the diagnosis of gender identity disorder with gender dysphoria, the ideological motivations for this change, and the numerous moral challenges it creates.

Guest Mary Forr discusses the institutionalized discrimination faced by persons with disabilities and shares ways to promote their dignity and recognize the unique gifts they give to society.

Dr. Carr J. Smith traces the roots of what he describes as a decline in scientific credibility to the loss of abstract reasoning skills. He then examines the long-term effects of this trend on the scientific community, education, and the culture at large.

Ethicist Dr. Edward Furton probes of the subtleties of brain death and the difficulties that arise from the linguistic difference between metaphysics and science as well as from dissenting opinions within Catholic philosophy.

Dr. Gwyneth Spaeder, a pediatrician in Wake Forest, NC, discusses the moral imperative for Catholics to vaccinate themselves and their children.

Ethicist Dr. John DiCamillo discusses the difference between ordinary and extraordinary care in end-of-life decision making.