APA Newsletters
Fall 1999
Volume 99, Number 1

Rosamond Rhodes
Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Variety is the hallmark of this issue of the Newsletter. The smorgasbord of delights includes food for thought and sustenance for the senses. Len Fleck, Jeffrey Blustein, and Mark Oshinskie provide us with critical articles. Len Fleck’s paper on "Is ‘Responsible Eugenics’ Disingenuous Ethics" challenges some of the positions on eugenics maintained by Philip Kitcher in his important book The Lives to Come. Fleck asks the Rawlsian question, "How do we, citizens in a liberal pluralistic democratic society, come to some reasonable agreement regarding our conception of responsible eugenics, most especially, what will count as a reasonable balance among the deep, sometimes conflicting social values?" He offers some insightful guidelines that are likely to inspire more work in this developing area of biomedical science. Jeffrey Blustein’s paper, "The Intersection of Law and Medicine: Legalizing Marihuana for Medicinal Purposes" challenges us with an array of important considerations that need to be factored into public policy decisions about the legalization of a drug that has been associated with abuse. Mark Oshinskie’s short piece, "Seventy and Out," challenges us to scrutinize the goodness of some goals of medical science. His particular target is the extension of the human life span, but similar questions can be raised about other technology.

 Mark Kuczewski’s article, "Web-Based Education in Bioethics: The Importance and the Future," is late breaking news for bioethics education. It brings us up to date on using new interactive web technology in teaching bioethics. He explains the advantages and disadvantages of a web-based graduate program and identifies an important resource that may meet the needs of some of our students.

Felicia Ackerman has given us an especially delicious treat. Her short story, "Buddies," provides a glimpse of a man with end-stage AIDS and a woman who is his AIDS buddy. Their relationship and its impact on their lives provides us with unusual insights and even more questions. It’s rich, so save some room for this dessert.

In the book review section, we have two provocative review essays. Franklin Miller’s "Elegy for Iris: The Ethics of Narrative," discusses John Bayley’s book about his wife, Iris Murdoch, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. In discussing the book, Miller raises serious and pointed questions about the ethics of relationships and the ethical limits of narrative writing. The answers are not obvious and the questions themselves should make people who discuss bioethical cases somewhat uncomfortable and self-critical. David Resnick reviews Udo Schuklenk’s Access to Experimental Drugs in Terminal Illness: Ethical Issues. Resnick’s critical assessment of the issues highlights some important practical problems with Schuklenk’s advocacy for patients’ unrestricted access to experimental drugs.

As always, please continue to send along your announcements, letters, papers, poetry, and stories so that they can be shared, used, and enjoyed by all. Directions for formatting your submission can be found at the end of the Newsletter volume. Feel free to volunteer a book review. Contributions and queries should be sent to me at the address below. For ease in communication, please include your phone and fax numbers, and email address if you have one.

Rosamond Rhodes
Box 1108
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, CUNY
One Gustave Levy Place
New York, NY 10029
phone: 212-241-3757
fax: 212-427-7862
email: rhodes@smtplink.mssm.edu