News from the Centre
April 2006
Bundaberg whistleblower Toni Hoffman named Australia's Local Hero for 2006
We are proud to report that Bundaberg hospital whistleblower and Master of Bioethics graduate Ms Toni Hoffman has been named Australia's "Local Hero' for 2006, for her efforts in raising concerns about patient safety at Bundaberg Base Hospital during 2003-2005. Toni was presented with this award by Prime Minister John Howard at the 2006 Australian of the Year ceremony outside Parliament House Canberra on Australia Day in January. For further details, see: http:// www.australianoftheyear.gov.au/pages/page119.asp Toni is speaking at this year's Intensive Bioethics Course about her experiences as a whistleblower.
Presentations in Seoul on Hwang stem cell controversy and therapeutic cloning
In March, Dr Rob Sparrow travelled to Seoul, at the invitation of the Seoul National University Institute of Communications Research, where he presented a paper, "'Trust us...We're Doctors': Science, media, and ethics in the Hwang stem-cell controversy", to the "Media Ethics and Investigative Journalism Conference' at Seoul National University. The conference featured invited speakers from Australia and Japan, as well as Korea , and examined the history and continuing fallout from the "Hwang Stem-Cell Controversy". Dr Sparrow also had the opportunity to present a paper on the ethics of therapeutic cloning to students and staff of the Seoul National University College of Veterinary Medicine, where Professor Hwang had previously been employed.
Meeting with Japanese delegation
A medico-legal delegation from Japan met with Dr Justin Oakley in March to discuss the NHMRC-funded project he is leading on the ethics of providing patients with performance information on individual surgeons. The delegation is leading efforts in Japan to improve patient safety and to restructure the medical and legal investigation of health-related deaths.
Triennial review of Master of Bioethics (by coursework)
In February the Centre's Master of Bioethics (by coursework) program underwent the Faculty Review process used to evaluate all postgraduate courses every three years. The Review panel reported that the program is very successful, and praised Centre staff for their work in the course. Further initiatives are planned for the program, and will be announced in due course.
Congratulations to our students
Congratulations to the following students who have fulfilled the requirements for the Master of Bioethics degree. As part of the course the successful candidates wrote 10,000 word research papers on the following topics:
- Brette Blakely "Is familial searching justified?"
- Kathleen Fergus "Nurse whistleblowers: Created by conflicting ethical principles and current workplace practices?"
- Tyson Wodak "The ethics of blood donation: Is the Australian Red Cross Blood Service acting ethically in facilitating autologous blood donations?"
Copies of these Master of Bioethics research papers are available for reading at the Centre's library, 9th floor, Menzies Building, Clayton Campus.
January 2006
Rob Sparrow appointed to government biotechnology ethics committee
Centre Lecturer Dr Rob Sparrow has been appointed to the Victorian Biotechnology Ethics Advisory Committee. Rob has been appointed to the committee in the role of Ethicist, and he will contribute to the committee's work in developing policy and guidelines on biotechnology research and its applications in Victoria.
Congratulations to our students
Congratulations to the following students who recently fulfilled the requirements for the Master of Bioethics degree. As part of the course the successful candidates wrote 10,000 word research papers on the following topics:
- Michael Clarence "'Do not attempt resuscitation' orders: forgoing invasive ventilation in end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease".
- Sandra Woods "Does viewing Canadian taxpayers as the primary stakeholders of Canadian Institutes of Health Research funds have ethical implications for the oversight of granted research funds?"
Copies of these Master of Bioethics research papers are available for reading at the Centre's library, 9th floor, Menzies Building, Clayton Campus.
2005 Intensive Bioethics Course a success
The Centre's annual Intensive Bioethics Course held in December 2005 at Mt Buffalo Chalet was again a great success. The evaluations from course participants included comments such as:"truly an inspiring and enlightening experience, easily the best conference I've attended", "the presenters were uniformly excellent and well in command of their material", "I found the presentations totally stimulating", "my understanding of this area has grown immensely", "reinforced my passion for, and my commitment to, ethics", "very good balance of theory and application", and "the course was fantastic and has made me think about a lot of other issues". A highlight of the course was Toni Hoffman's personal account of her role as whistleblower in the scandal involving surgery at the Bundaberg Base Hospital, and the standing ovation she received from the course participants.