Healing and dying with dignity: Debating palliative and end-of-life care
Public Debate co-organized by Department of Philosophy, Fergusson College and the Sixth National Bioethics Conference Organizers – Forum for Medical Ethics Society-Indian Journal of Medical Ethics and MASUM
A lot of public debate on euthanasia was sparked off by the 42-year-long struggle of the nurse Aruna Shanbaug, who was in a persistent vegetative state after being brutally assaulted at her work place. The issue is complex due to the wide ranging opinions and the socio-economic, religious & spiritual dimensions of the matter at hand. With the extremely inequitable distribution of health care facilities across the country, and with no assured access to palliative care a large number of patients and their families are left in tremendous distress in such situations. Emerging trends in technology relating to medicine offers increasing opportunities for prolonging life. However, the disparities in people's capacity to pay for health care raise ethical issues for families as well as health care providers. On the other hand there is an ongoing public campaign to promote organ donation after brain death. The Govt of India has recently put out a draft bill on passive euthanasia seeking comments from the public. In its current form the bill is simplistic & is silent on many critical areas. Therefore, there is an urgency of conversation both in academia and in the public domain from a multidisciplinary perspective.
Introduction: Dr. Sunita Bandewar, FMES-IJME
Panelists
Dr. Shivkumar Iyer, Head, Critical Care Med Dept, Bharati Vidyapeeth Med College, Pune
Dr. Stephen Jayard, Jnana Deep Vidyapeeth, Pune
Dr. Harish Navale, Department of Philosophy, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune
Dr. Megha Deuskar, Department of Psychology, Fergusson College, Pune
Anchor: Radhika Jadhav, Department of Philosophy, Fergusson College, Pune
Venue: Firodia Auditorium, DES Law College, Pune Fergusson College Campus
Day & Date: Friday, September 2, 2016
Time: 10.30am to 1.30pm
Contact
Radhika Jadhav: 9850015856, [email protected]
Malavika Kadam: 08857963141, [email protected]
