health & wellness
Aso
-- r
A1:11/4
‘44.tit&,
e IIV
- 4 0: wi l
4 `11- 4/41,
41•,...:*
Illail 4
-Arr 4.-A1Pr•
‘• 1,41, -
4
40
n.- .
- :oat.,
%
' 11°0
60, file r- 0, 00-
461"*.-
Professors Ed Goldman and Peter Jacobson on the panel
------
41dilli
,„4
•
.,*-
...
. .
...„ki
..„,,,
TterA.74wr
Aurelia L shares her passion with
needlework among a group
of fellow residents.
REGEN
STREET
cgyOF WEST BCOOMFIELD69
ASSISTED LIVING
An American House Senior Living Community
4460 Orchard Lake Rd I West Bloomfield, MI 48323
regentstreetwestbloomfield.com
(248) 683-1010
Regent Street is offering one month
FREE RENT to all move-ins
(offer good through April 30, 2013)
Ask about our dedicated Memory Care Unit
54
arch 28 • 2013
JN
Refusing Medical
Treatment
Jewish public health student group
hosts a panel discussion at U-M.
Danielle Taubman
Special to the Jewish News
hen I started my mas-
ter's of public health
degree at the University
of Michigan, I noticed that Jewish
students were well represented in the
School of Public Health, but I did not
find a venue within the school to bring
us together.
So I decided to
form a student orga-
nization called La
Briut (Hebrew for "to
your health"), which
has about 30 mem-
bers. La Briut fosters
community among
Jewish
students of
Danielle
all
backgrounds
in
Taubman
the school and cre-
ates a space to explore health-related
issues that affect the Jewish population
at large. Since its inception last year,
we have organized a number of social,
religious and educational activities
together. We recently sponsored a panel
about refusing medical treatment.
Ed Goldman, professor of health
management and policy at the School
of Public Health, opened the discus-
sion with anecdotes about cases
involving the refusal of treatment on
religious grounds. For instance, what
steps should be taken when a Jehovah's
Witness' child needs a blood transfu-
sion and his parents will not consent
to the procedure? He described receiv-
ing calls from doctors at 2 or 3 in the
morning asking for his advice on these
matters.
Professor Peter Jacobson, also from
the department of health manage-
ment and policy, addressed the con-
science legislation recently proposed
in Michigan. The legislation, which
didn't pass, would have given health-
care providers freedom to refuse to
treat a patient if it violated the pro-
vider's moral or religious principles.
Conscience clauses usually relate to
issues such as abortion, contraception,
and stem cell-based treatments. In
Jacobson's view, health providers have
a duty to fulfill a patient's legal medi-
cal needs, irrespective of their personal
position on the issue.
Two rabbis added the Jewish per-
spective on refusal of treatment. Rabbi
Seth Winberg of U-M Hillel explained
that today the standard view is that the
Jewish tradition of saving life above all
limits patient autonomy, and "conse-
quently, a patient would be required to
accept medical treatment:'
But he then cited several precedents
that challenge such a view, suggesting
that there may be reasons for a patient
to refuse medical treatment — if, for
example, the treatment is experimental
or too risky.
Rabbi Kim Blumenthal from Beth
Israel Congregation of Ann Arbor
shared some of her experiences of
counseling congregants. Her take on
the matter was simple: If someone
comes to her seeking advice about a
difficult decision, she sees her main
role as comforting the individual and
then guiding him or her through the
process of making a decision.
Each viewpoint was unique,
nuanced and interesting. I do a lot of
thinking in my public health courses,
but this panel pushed me to think in
a different way. It was provocative and
stimulating, and I got the sense that
the speakers were enjoying the experi-
ence as much as the students. I left the
event understanding that we had only
begun to delve into this topic and to
wrestle with its many intricacies and
uncertainties. ❑
Danielle Taubman of Farmington Hills
will receive her master's of public health
degree in May from U-M.