For details on obtaining any of the listed items contact h.munro@mailbox.uq.edu.au.
2. "Vocation, Career and Profession" Monograph by Professor William F. May.
3. "Confidentiality and the Lawyer - The Limits and Conflicts of the Ethical Duties" Monograph by Dr Kevin McGuinness.
4. "Greed is Not Good! Teaching Ethics to Professionals" Book edited by Rev. Howard Munro.
5. "An Easeful Death? Perspectives on Death, Dying and Euthanasia" Book edited by Dr John Morgan.
6. "Bioethics, the Human Genome Project, and our Future" Taped lecture by Mr Justice Kirby.
7. "The Gene Wars: Science, Politics, and the Human Genome" Taped lecture by Dr Robert Cook-Deegan.
8. "DNA Genetic Diagnosis" Taped lecture by Professor Ron Trent.
9. "New Genes in Plants - Issues for our Food supply and the Environment" Taped lecture by Dr Jim Peacock.
10. "The Debate Over Active/Passive Euthanasia: Appeals to Autonomy, Compassion, Justice and the Community" Taped lecture by Professor William F. May.
11. "Money and the Professions" Taped lecture by Professor William F. May.
12. "Autonomy, Community and Justice in Bioethics" Conference Proceedings compiled by Ms Pam McGrath.
This book, edited by Rev. Dr John Morgan, Director of the Australian Insitute of Ethics and the Professions and Warden of St John's College at The University of Queensland, brings together the contributions of theologians, ethicists, legal, medical and nursing professionals concerned with the care of terminally ill patients.
The compilation arises out of a major conference at The University of Queensland convened by the Australian Institute of Ethics and the Professions and the Provincial Bioethics Centre for the Catholic Dioceses of Queensland.
The main purpose of this book is to provide a broad coverage of issues surrounding the euthanasia debate. It presents a variety of professional reflections on the many clinical, psychological and spiritual complexities of the process of dying, in contrast to the recent media domination of the issue by the Hon. Kevin Andrews MHR and Dr Phillip Nitschke of the Northern Territory.
The book contains contributions from leading ethicists such as Professors Alastair Campbell, William May, and the Reverend Bill Uren S.J.. Theological and ethical contributions are provided by Professor David Brown and Dr Davis McCaughey and Dr John Morgan. Medical perspectives are offered by Professors Ian Maddocks, Sir Raymond Hoffenburg, Drs Allison Holloway, Malcolm Parker, and Brian Pollard. Legal aspects are contributed by Mr Brian Bartley and Dr John Keown and Associate Professor Don Stewart. Nursing and other health care workers are represented by Sister Deirdre Gardiner RSM and Ms Elizabeth White.
The boundaries between the disciplines represented here are indicative only and are certainly not exclusive criteria of the content of each author's contribution. They range over a variety of topics, leading to what is, in essence, an interdisciplinary dialogue.
A selection of quotations from the book is perhaps the best way of indicating some of the content.
Professor Ian Maddocks, the first Professor of Palliative Care in Australia, comments: "What I do not want...is to see a brisk new expectation arise that a quick death is a noble one, that for the sake of the family, the budget or the stress upon carers, it will be best to elect euthanasia. This is because I feel that some of the excellent sharing and exchanges of love which inspire and comfort the rest of us will be lost in accepting that fatal attraction, and our society will be the poorer for it" (p.70).
Professor David Brown of Durham University is a Canon of Durham Cathedral and Professor of Theology. He observes: "Contemporary medical practice gives a central role to the notion of consent... What rather worries me is the extent to which acknowledging the right to make and carry through such decisions is confused with endorsing their moral legitimacy...[S]uspect motives such as shame or fear can bulk large in such decisions. Not only that, they imply a questionable judgement upon others placed in a comparable situation...The social implications of one's decisions cannot be side-stepped" (p.107).
Ms Elizabeth White, Deputy Director of Oncology Nursing at the Wesley Hospital, Brisbane, says, "The complex emotions experienced in palliative care are encapsulated in the care of dying children. Nurses in paediatric cancer care are often asked 'How do you do it?' Their replies reflect a firm belief that they receive more than they give. Nurses, doctors and grieving parents continually wonder at the courage and continued affirmation of life demonstrated by children with cancer" (p.51).
Dr John Morgan himself writes "The notion that human life partakes of sanctity and deserves respect, derives from the dignity that is conferred upon it in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. It sees humanity as stemming from the outpouring of the love of God who creates human beings in His own image. For Christians, specifically, human beings are those for whom Christ died and was resurrected by God. There is thus an inherent value in human life...If our modern secular culture both fears and exalts the notion of a pain-free existence, then it is little wonder that euthanasia - as a planned easeful death - holds the fascination and promise it seems to for so many, as the panacea or the ultimate cure for our woes" (p.20).
It comes with some useful appendices, including the Northern Territory Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1996 and the Commonwealth Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996. The book is obtainable through good book stores or direct from the Institute of Ethics. Contact: h.munro@mailbox.uq.edu.au.
The abstract is as follows:
Traditional approaches to genetic diagnosis have included clinical assessment, measurement of a protein product or metabolite and medical imaging. Using these methods, the scope for genetic diagnosis is limited to: (i) disorders which have developed sufficiently so that signs or symptoms are clinically apparent e.g. Huntington disease which usually presents in the 4th-5th decade of life; (ii) disorders in which there is knowledge of proteins or metabolites involved in the normal physiological process e.g. haemophilia which is caused by abnormal clotting factors found in the blood; and (iii) disorders which can be detected through end-organ damage by medical imaging such as ultrasound e.g. the renal cysts in polycystic kidney disease. The limitations and disadvantages described above changed with the availability of DNA diagnosis during the 1980's.
DNA which contains the organism's genetic information is identical in all nucleated cells. Therefore, any tissue is suitable for genetic diagnosis e.g. DNA obtainable from a blood sample will enable testing for a wide range of genetic disorders such as abnomalities affecting the blood, brain, heart or liver. Moreover, since mutations associated with genetic diseases are transmitted from parents to offspring, the abnomalities in DNA are present at day 0 in an organism's development i.e. from the time of fertilisation. The advantages of DNA diagnosis over traditional approaches have meant that options such as carrier testing, presymptomatic diagnosis, prenatal diagnosis or population screening are increasingly becoming available to the community. The isolation of new genes, which is gathering momentum as the Human Genome Project progresses, will provide DNA markers for a wide range of human genetic disorders.
Challenges facing the community in the area of DNA genetic diagnosis are many. These will include the increasing gap between what can be detected at the DNA level and the limited therapeutic options available e.g. the prenatal diagnosis scenario. Cost-effectiveness of DNA diagnosis will need to be assessed particularly when it comes to DNA mutations which are frequently found in the community e.g. 1 in 22 of the caucasian population and the cystic fibrosis defect. The indications for DNA testing are the subject of much debate in the genetics and lay communities but will become even more complex when genes associated with multifactorial genetic disorders e.g. cancer, hypertension, dementia are identified. The issues of privacy and confidentiality have maintained a high profile in the present utilisation of DNA genetic diagnosis although it is to be hoped that familiarity does not breed contempt. The dilemma of unnecessary DNA testing which is facing the U.S. community has not been a problem in Australia in part because there is no Medicare rebate for DNA testing. However, the increasing trend to devolution of responsibility for medical decision-making has meant that services provided can be unplanned or dependent on local conditions or interest groups.
For more details on availability of the tape recording contact h.munro@mailbox.uq.edu.au.
Dr Peacock states:
"In plants, our principal objective is that we want to use gene technologies to improve the genetic makeup of our production plants...The real excitement of these gene technologies in the past decade in plant biology has been the way in which it has transformed our capability of asking questions about plants...We have learned an enormous amount about the way in which plants grow, in which they function and respond to the environment, and in which they develop. This explosion of knowledge is going to have a tremendous impact on the way in which we are able to use plants. It is from new knowledge that new biotechnologies will arise."
"In the future I think we will find that we are using our familiar plants for new purposes to produce some chemical feedstocks rather than extracting the feedstocks used in the plastics industry. In a mining operation we will use renewable factories for feedstocks in plants...Already we have been able to encourage plants to produce new carbon compounds which are valuable feedstocks for industry."
"The other thing that the gene technologies are really going to help us with in our plant production system, and it is of critical importance and growing importance, is the second part of my title and that is the protection of the environment. We no longer will accept agriculture as a despoiler, as a miner of the environment. Our society is very much emphasising that we want protection, not contamination of our environment and our agricultural productions have realised that they need a sustainable system."
For more details on availability of the tape recording contact h.munro@mailbox.uq.edu.au.