Center for Bioethics

Amber Comer, PhD, JD, is an affiliate faculty member at Indiana University Center for Bioethics, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Sciences, and an affiliate research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute

Dr. Comer graduated from Indiana University McKinney School of Law, where she received her J.D. with a concentration in health law. She is also a graduate of Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health where she received her doctorate in Health Policy.

Dr. Comer is an expert in medical decision-making, with a special focus on the role of palliative care in medical decision making for hospitalized patients. Her research has led to a change in Indiana’s Health Care Consent Law. Her research goal is to reduce suffering at the end-of-life by improving quality medical decision-making. She uses her medical decision-making expertise to focus her research on health policy and the amelioration of suffering at the end of life. Her current work includes researching the role of palliative care in medical decisions for hospitalized patients with severe stroke. Additionally, Comer is studying the effect of State Health Care Consent Laws on hospitalized patient’s medical decisions and care.

Selected Courses:

• H120 - Introduction to Health Policy
• W363 - Medical Ethics
• H364 - Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Healthcare Delivery
• W661 - Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
• L763 - Health Law: Legal Epidemiology

Selected Guest Lectures:

• “Surrogate Medical Decision Making” Indiana University School of Medicine. Ethics Elective
• “Law and Ethics in Medicine” Indiana University School of Health and Human Sciences
• “The Impact of Unethical Research on Clinical Practice” Indiana University School of Health and Human Sciences. Physician Assistant Program.
• “Medical Ethical Dilemmas” Indiana University School of Medicine.
• “Physician Aid-In Dying” Indiana University School of Medicine.

Decision-Making

Selected Publications:

• Comer AR, Hickman SE, Slaven JE, et al. Assessment of Discordance Between Surrogate Care Goals and Medical Treatment Provided to Older Adults With Serious Illness. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(5):e205179. Published 2020 May.
• Comer AR, Slaven JE, Montz A, Burke E, Inger L, Torke A. Nontraditional Surrogate Decision Makers for Hospitalized Older Adults. Med Care. 2018;56(4):337-340.
• Comer AR, Gaffney M, Stone CL, Torke A. Physician understanding and application of surrogate decision-making laws in clinical practice. AJOB Empir Bioeth. 2017;8(3):198-204

Selected Grants:

Treatment Decisions and Outcomes After Stroke: A Retrospective Study

• Role: PI
• Dates: 2019-2021
• Funder: National Palliative Care Research Center
• Description: This study seeks to understand how the receipt of goals of care conversations influences decisions about life sustaining care and goals of care, including the use of DNR orders, mechanical ventilation, ICU utilization, hospice referrals, discharge location, mortality, and advance directives/ POLST forms. Additionally, this study will identify how neurologists, patients, and families currently understand and communicate about prognosis and treatment decisions after severe stroke.

Health Communication

Selected Publications:

• Comer AR, Fettig L, Torke AM. Identifying Goals of Care. Medical Clinics of North America. 2020,  In Press.
• Almojaibel, A., Munk, N., Goodfellow, L., Fisher, T., Miller, K., Comer, A., Bakas, T., & Justiss, M. Health Care Practitioners’ Determinants of Telerehabilitation Acceptance. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 2020:12(1);43-50. doi:https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2020.6308.
• Almojaibel AA, Munk N, Goodfellow LT, Fisher TF, Miller KK, Comer AR, Bakas T, Justiss MD. Development and Validation of the Tele-Pulmonary Rehabilitation Acceptance Scale. Respiratory Care. 2020; 12:43-50.
• Comer AR. Choosing Death over Suffering: Determining a Standard for Informing Patients about the Possibility of Physician-Aid-in- Dying as an End-of-Life Option. Harvard Medical School Bioethics Journal. 2019. https://bioethicsjournal.hms.harvard.edu/magazine-issue/summer-2019.
• Mac Kinnon J, Comer AR. Book Chapter: The Influence of Culture, Values, and Faith on End-of-Life Decisions. In: Healthcare Ethics for Healthcare Practitioners. 2016.

Informed Consent

Selected Publications:

• Comer AR, Damush T, Torke, AM, Williams L. The Role of Informed Consent for Thrombolysis in Acute Ischemic Stroke. Journal of Clinical Ethics. 2019;30(4):338-346.

Health Policy

Selected Publications:

• Comer AR, Gaffney M, Stone, C, Torke A. The effect of a state health care consent law on patient care in hospitals: A survey of physicians. Journal of Hospital Administration. 2018;7(2):31-35.
• Comer AR, Gaffney M, Stone C, Torke AM. “What do you mean I cannot consent for my grandmother’s medical procedure?”: Key issues with state default surrogate decision making laws. Indiana Health Law Review. 2016;14(2):2-28.

Selected Grants:

Examining the Effects of Changing Indiana’s Health Care Consent Law on Physician Practice and Patient Care in Indiana Hospitals

• Role: PI
• Dates: 2019-
• Funder: IUPUI Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research
• Description:

The Effect of a Change in Indiana’s Health Care Consent Law

• Role: PI
• Dates: 2018-
• Funder: IU School of Health and Human Sciences
• Description:

HIP 2.0: Health Equity, Responsibility and Community

• Role: Co-PI (Co-PI: David Craig)
• Dates: 2018-2020
• Funder: Executive Committee of the Consortium for the Study of Religion, Ethics, and Society
• Description: This six-part series asks: How are HIP's values of personal responsibility, wellness, and empowerment working for members, providers, and our state? How can congregations, providers, and nonprofits improve HIP's operations through their values of community responsibility, neighborly outreach, social advocacy, and excellent care?

Research Ethics

Selected Publications:

• Comer AR. In the Wake of Wakefield: Establishing Consequences for Journal Failure to Recognize Retracted Research Articles. International Journal of Medical Research Professionals 2015;1(3):1-4.

Selected Grants:

Reflecting on 75 Years since the Liberation of Auschwitz: The lasting Impact of the Nazi Regime on Medical Research

• Role: Co-PI (Co-PI: Jason Organ)
• Dates: 2019
• Funder: Executive Committee of the Consortium for the Study of Religion, Ethics, and Society
• Description: This lecture series features experts in medical research, medical ethics, Nazi history, and anatomical sciences who will discuss critical topics such as the ethical violations that occurred during the Nazi persecution of the Jewish people, the use of Nazi produced anatomical knowledge, and the prospect of medical ethical violations, such as those experienced by the prisoners of Auschwitz, occurring again.

Selected Activities:

• Member - Eskenazi Hospital medical ethics committee and ethics consultation service
• Member - Eskenazi Hospital Remdesivir Allocation Committee
• Member - American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
• Member - American Public Health Association
• Member - Chronicles of Health Impact Assessment Journal Editorial Board