Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD. Associate Clinical Professor of Social Medicine, Medical Ethics and Anaesthesia
Harvard Medical School
Director, HMS Fellowship in Medical Ethics
Vice President, Education Development Center, Inc.

Seminar TopicThe notoriety of the Terri Schiavo case demonstrates that no mattered how settled law and ethical policy may be, societal consensus about what is and should be ethically and legally permissible in end-of-life decision making remains elusive. This session will trace the history of law and ethics, enumerating the broad consensus that has emerged in the United States at the national policy level about patient and family rights regarding the use and withdrawal of life supports. There will be opportunities for participants to compare and contrast their own views on withdrawal of treatment for incapacitated patients, palliative sedation, physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. We will also briefly review very recent discoveries regarding the minimally conscious state and its differentiation from persistent vegetative states, discoveries that add new complexities to this old, but lingering and socially volatile topic.

To learn more about Mildred Solomon click here.
http://www.hms.harvard.edu/dsm/WorkFiles/html/people/faculty/faculty.html