Three IUCB faculty investigators -- Colin Halverson, Jane Hartsock, and Peter Schwartz – and program manager Tah Yogo will present four talks or panels at the largest US bioethics meeting this fall. The 23rd Annual American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) Conference, titled Bioethics and Humanities at the Crossroads, was initially slated to be held in Indianapolis, till it was converted to virtual only. The interdisciplinary meeting brings together professionals in bioethics, medical humanities, and related fields. On Wednesday, Oct. 13, 8-9:30 EDT, the IU Center for Bioethics, the Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics, and the Medical Humanities and Health Studies Program of the IU School of Liberal Arts, will jointly host A Reading and Discussion of Kurt Vonnegut’s Fortitude.
Sessions with IUCB Faculty and Staff:
Wednesday, October 13th: 8 - 9:30 PM (EDT)
At the Crossroads of the Humanities, Medicine, and Technology: A Reading and Discussion of Kurt Vonnegut’s Fortitude. This session will explore Vonnegut’s 1968 play, Fortitude, through a dramatic reading and panel discussion, to be livestreamed from the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis, the city where Vonnegut was born and raised. The play presents a futuristic scenario in which a woman is kept alive as just a head on a tripod, manipulated by machines being controlled by a physician mastermind. Following the reading, reflections by three panelists from the hosting institutions will stimulate the conference attendees’ discussion of the play’s themes, including the purpose of medicine and ethical issues at the end of life and the role of the history of medicine and literature in framing these sensitive and important conversations.
Friday, October 15th: 12 - 1:15 PM (EDT)
Paper Presentation: Using Interactive Pattern Storytelling to Support Ethics Education
Tah Yogo, MA & Persis Naumann, MA:
Abstract:
Several studies on bioethics education show disparity in knowledge-based and practical ethics, identify typical ethics curricula as boring and disengaging, and demand for more intelligible and practical methods. In this paper presentation, the authors aim to address these issues. First, we argue the importance of storytelling methodology to support bioethics education. Qualitative studies in education have shown storytelling to be effective in engaging learners. The use of stories can break down abstract and complex ethics subjects into digestible and applicable information. Second, we propose the adoption of interactive pattern storytelling (Choose Your Own Path) as a tool to strengthen current bioethics education. Interactive pattern storytelling utilizes hypothetical scenarios with several possible outcomes to immerse the learner. The learner is given an entry point into the hypothetical world with relevant background information about the situation. From this entry point, the learner directs the story through their decisions. Based on their choices, the scenario will end with either a desirable or undesirable outcome. By navigating outcomes, the learner is being trained in real time. The goal of this paper presentation is to introduce the concept of interactive pattern storytelling in ethics education and to demonstrate educational benefits. Finally, we show how this method of storytelling can be utilized to teach complex ethics subjects, with the example of cultural competence.
For more information, click here.
Friday, October 15th: 5:30-6:45 PM (EDT)
Paper Presentation: The Best Insulin is the One the Patient Can Afford
Abstract:
Many patients with Type II diabetes are treated with long-lasting, “basal” insulin. Through the 1990s, the standard basal insulin was NPH, generally taken twice a day. In the early 2000s, “analog” insulins taken just once a day, such as detemir and glargine (lantus), started taking over, especially after trials showed improved blood sugar control and reduced episodes of hypoglycemia. By 2015, analog insulins were standard.
This story has a sad ending, however: in the last few years, analog insulins have become very expensive – often $300 or $400 per month out of pocket – even for patients with insurance. Many patients have stopped taking their insulin or skipped doses to save money. Many providers are reluctant to switch patients back to NPH, since they feel it is unethical to offer second-rate treatment. While everybody chooses lower quality consumer items based on price – buying a Kia since you can’t afford a BMW – at least sometimes, some providers feel it is different for insulin, where people may die due to the differences in medicines.
I argue against this perceived difference, in part by showing that the higher efficacy and safety of analog insulins have been exaggerated. Even as we fight to find ways to make analog insulins affordable, providers should explain the tradeoffs between NPH and the analog insulins to their patients, allowing them to make informed choices. Allowing patients to choose a slightly less effective medicine based on cost is not unethical, even if the pricing is.
For more information, click here.
Saturday, October 16th: 11 AM – 12:15 PM (EDT)
Paper Presentation: “ Dr. Carl von Klein and the Translation of the Ebers Papyrus”
Jane Hartsock, J.D., M.A & Colin Halverson, Ph.D
Abstract:
With his daughter, Dr. Carl von Klein created the first hieratic-to-English translation of the Ebers Papyrus. The fully annotated, 650-page text included illustrated and colored panels and a comprehensive hieratic-to-English dictionary. This papyrus played a critical role in disrupting the existing narrative of the history of medicine, relocating its origins from the Ancient Greek Isles to the banks of the Nile. However, like the Ebers Papyrus itself, von Klein’s personal story and works long lay forgotten. Profoundly mortal, vulnerable to suffering, disappointment, and bad judgment, von Klein’s project – his life work – had been lost even to his own family until the authors began their quest to understand this elusive yet profound polymath and his contributions to the field. Once a member of a titled German family, the only clue to his extraordinary life was a single plea in Chicago’s Inter Ocean newspaper that a man “who sacrificed his fortune in the advancement of science” should not die “forgotten by the friends of his prosperity.” Ultimately, Dr. von Klein would die penniless and alone in the “charity ward” of a county hospital just outside of Chicago, Illinois in 1913. In the more than 100 years since his death, nothing has yet been written about Dr. von Klein’s contributions to the history of medicine, significant though they were. In this presentation, we recount the astonishing life and research of this unknown immigrant surgeon, who made the Midwest his home and Egypt his focus of study.
For more information, click here.
Saturday, October 16th: 12:30 – 1:45 PM
Panel Presentation: “Death in Indiana: Humanities Perspectives on Race, Pre-Mature Death and Health Disparities
Emily Beckman, DMH; Elizabeth Nelson, PhD; Angeline Larimer, MFA, MA; & Jane Hartsock, JD, MA
Abstract:
Drawing on a series of narratives of Black Hoosiers, spanning more than 50 years of Indiana history, this 4-person, interdisciplinary panel will examine the role of racism in perpetuating both systemic violence and abandonment resulting in premature death and health disparities. Specifically, through the use of theatre, we will explore the 1971 murder of a teenage boy by a racist in rural Indiana, the failure of the community to adequately punish this hate crime, and the lasting impact of systemic injustice on the boy's family in the years since, including the premature deaths of two other siblings, and the last remaining son's struggles with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and now a serious heart condition. Through the lenses of history and narrative, we will consider the role of racism in the early death of two Black women in the 1990s at Central State Hospital - Indiana's landmark Psychiatric Institution. While the families' lawsuit attributed responsibility to individual staff members, we seek to highlight the structural deficits that contributed to their deaths and the impact of those deaths on the broader community. Finally, we will connect these narratives to the present by arguing that long-standing systemic abandonment has resulted in markedly disproportionate rates of hospitalization and death for Black patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. While specific cases serve to raise awareness of structural racism in medicine, we explore whether an interdisciplinary, humanities-based approach to the stories of deceased individuals and their families can further and deepen understanding of the operation of those structures.
For more information, click here.