posted November 7, 2003
The Chattanooga and Hamilton County Medical Society and Medical Foundation’s Sixth Annual President’s Forum will be Friday, November 14, at the Trade Center.
The theme of this year’s President’s Forum is “Ethics in Medicine.”
J. Mack Worthington, MD, president of the Medical Society of Chattanooga and Hamilton County, said Mayor Bob Corker and County Mayor Claude Ramsey jointly had declared November 10 – 14, 2003 as Ethics Awareness Week in the city and the county.
Dr. Worthington stated, “The three major hospitals in our community, Erlanger Health System, Memorial Health Care System, and Parkridge Medical System, have worked jointly to encourage and stress the highest level of ethics and integrity in the
"We are grateful that Mayors Corker and Ramsey have joined us and encouraged this important effort.”
Dr. Worthington said, "We have assembled an outstanding panel of speakers to address the issue of Ethics in Medicine from several perspectives."
Among the confirmed speakers are:
The Honorable John Kitzhaber, MD, former Governor, State of Oregon; Steven Miles, MD, Center for
Bioethics, University of Minnesota; Rosemarie Tong, PhD, Center for Professional and Applied Ethics, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; William Jenkins, PhD, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA; J. Hunter Groninger, MD, Center for Palliative Care, University of Virginia; and, Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD,
President, American Medical Association.
Dr. Worthington stated that the three hospital systems had joined with the Medical Society to develop and sponsor, along with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, this year’s program on medical ethics.
Offered since 1998, the President’s Forum has addressed topics ranging from “Managed Care” to ”Complementary Alternative Medicine to “The Crisis in Health Care in our State and in our Nation.”
Attendance at the Forum is free of charge. However, reservations are required due to the high demand for seats at this year’s Forum, it was stated. CME and CEU credits will be
available for physicians, nurses and other health professionals through the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Chattanooga Unit.
To make reservations, please call
the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society at 423-622-2872.
SIXTH ANNUAL PRESIDENT’S FORUM
PRESENTED BY THE
MEDICAL SOCIETY OF CHATTANOOGA AND HAMILTON COUNTY
AND
THE MEDICAL FOUNDATION OF CHATTANOOGA, INC.
THEME: “ETHICS IN MEDICINE”
FINAL PROGRAM AND SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2003
CHATTANOOGA CONVENTION AND TRADE CENTER
7:30AM- 4:30PM
7:30AM – 8:30AM Continental Breakfast
8:30AM – 9:15AM “The Rationing of Health Care”
The Honorable John Kitzhaber, MD
Former Governor, State of Oregon
The state of Oregon was one of the first to address the issue of access to care from a perspective that encompassed the economic implications for state-sponsored payment programs. Oregon’s experiences exposed several ethical as well as economic issues that patients, policy-makers and providers of care were required to confront. This session will explore the history of how the state of Oregon addressed these issues, what impacted its decisions- ethically and economically- to design the system it eventually implemented, and what were the outcomes. The learning objectives for this session will result in increased physician and policy-maker awareness of the impact of their values on decision-making regarding access to care at the individual and systemic levels.
9:15AM – 10:00AM “The Pharmaceutical Industry”
Steven Miles, MD
Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota
The debate about whether to add a drug benefit to the Medicare program has prompted opinions from every aspect of the political spectrum. What are the questions being raised about advertising pharmaceuticals? What are the ethical implications of drug marketing strategies employed by pharmaceutical companies as they seek to influence physician prescribing patterns? This session will look at these issues and will address how physicians, patients and pharmaceutical companies can cooperate to ensure quality of patient care as the highest priority vs profit margins and market share. Physicians will learn how these marketing strategies can influence their prescribing patterns and how to prescribe in the best interests of a positive outcome for their patients from the treatment process.
10:00AM – 10:15AM BREAK
10:15AM – 11:00AM “Redesigning Ourselves, Genetically Engineering Our Children: Knowing When To Stop”
Rosemarie Tong, PhD
Center for Professional and Applied Ethics,
University of North Carolina, Charlotte
With the cracking of the genetic code, the success of the Human Genome Project and the hopes and expectations these spectacular achievements have raised, ethical questions of significant import have also arisen. This session will investigate some of the ethical implications of genetic testing and genetic therapy (to the extent it is ever developed) in the reproductive arena. Issues related to using genetic technologies for the purpose of enhancing, diminishing, and/or cloning children as well as for guaranteeing “normal” children will be highlighted. Physicians will become more aware of how important genetics knowledge is and the crucial role they will be asked to play not only in facilitating the use of new genetic technologies but also preventing their misuse or abuse.
11:00AM – 11:45AM Panel Discussion with morning speakers
11:45AM – 1:30PM LUNCH
1:30PM – 2:15PM “Health Disparities”
William Jenkins, PhD, MPH
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
It is clear from data collected over the past thirty years that a gap exists and persists between majority and minority populations, between the wealthy and the poor regarding health status. Over forty million American citizens lack adequate access to health care insurance; yet, is this the most significant contributing factor to this observed disparity in health status? This session will delve into the real reasons for health disparities and will reveal the ethical, moral and political reasons these disparities must be resolved- and soon.
2:15PM – 3:00PM “Medical Futility”
J. Hunter Groninger, MD
Center for Palliative Care, University of Virginia
Physicians today are caring for patients who are living longer. They are caring for patients for whom a cure is not in all cases a possibility. When the quality of life has diminished, and the end of life may be near, is it all right for a physician to hasten death? Is physician-assisted suicide a medically and morally responsible choice? What are the goals of palliative care? This session will explore these issues and provide some insights from an experienced practitioner.
3:00PM – 3:45PM “American Medicine, Ethics and Public Policy”
Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD, President
American Medical Association
Tort Reform. Managed Care vs Managed Cost. Patients’ Rights. What to do about the millions of uninsured Americans. What to do about the obesity epidemic and other problems that threaten the public health . These and other issues demand the highest degree of ethical consideration and integrity on behalf of every individual and institution if we are to maintain the best medical and health care system the world has ever seen. This session will address the moral and ethical obligations that physicians, patients and policy-makers must confront if we are to succeed in promoting the well-being of America.
3:45PM – 4:30PM Panel Discussion with afternoon speakers
PROCLAMATION
ETHICS AWARENESS WEEK
NOVEMBER 10 – 14, 2003
CITY OF CHATTANOOGA
HAMILTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE
WHEREAS, Throughout human history, all people, regardless of their faith, have been
taught to treat others in a way they themselves desire to be treated; and,
WHEREAS, an essential quality of successful human interaction must be the personal
integrity and honesty brought to the interaction; and,
WHEREAS, providers of health care, elected and appointed government officials,
captains of commerce and industry, religious leaders, teachers,
students, parents and children are all being tempted to abandon these
principles of integrity and honesty; and,
WHEREAS, there can be no viable sense of community without personal, corporate and
institutional commitment to the highest moral and ethical standards of
conduct; and,
WHEREAS, the medical and health provider community has come together to promote
awareness of and adherence to the principles of “First, do no harm”, patient autonomy, beneficence and equity of access; and,
WHEREAS, the Medical Society of Chattanooga and Hamilton County, Erlanger Health System, Memorial Health Care System, Parkridge Medical Center and the health care community will sponsor and facilitate activities to promote the highest ethical standards in the delivery of medical care, culminating in the Sixth Annual Medical Society and Medical Foundation of Chattanooga President’s Forum, November 14, 2003; and,
WHEREAS, the theme of the President’s Forum is “Ethics in Medicine”;
NOW, THEREFORE, We, Robert Corker, Mayor of the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee and Claude Ramsey, County Mayor of Hamilton County, Tennessee, do hereby proclaim the week of November 10 through November 14, 2003 as
“Ethics Awareness Week”
in Chattanooga and Hamilton County and urge all citizens to attend the President’s Forum and to join us in recognizing this worthy observance.
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