Georgia State Law Review’s symposium, “Quinlan at 40 – Exploring the Right to Die in the U.S.,” will be held 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in the Knowles Conference Center at Georgia State Law.
Save the Date
- When: 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11
- Where: Knowles Conference Center
- Breakfast and lunch are provided.
Margaret P. Battin, distinguished professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of internal medicine with the Division of Medical Ethics at the University of Utah, will deliver the keynote address “A Contemporary Death.” Battin will draw from her celebrated TedMed Talk, sharing how her personal experiences when her husband’s decision to stop life-prolonging medical care after several years as a quadriplegic challenged her professional work in bioethics on end-of-life care, suicide, and euthanasia.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the landmark case, In Re Quinlan, decided by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
“It was the first major judicial decision to hold that life-sustaining medical treatments may be discontinued, even where the patient lacks the capacity to make the decision herself,” said April Meeks (J.D. ’17), Law Review symposium editor. “With new advancements in medicine and the law, however, more people are being faced with end of life decisions. We hope that this year’s symposium can educate students and attorneys on where we are as a country — and more specifically as a state — when it comes to making these incredibly important decisions.”
Speakers will discuss how case law, legislation, and general attitudes towards end of life decisions have evolved since In Re Quinlan.
“This topic affects virtually everyone – whether as a patient, family member, or professional – yet, in putting this symposium together, we’ve learned that there is a lot of misinformation about it,” said Kianna Hawkins, (J.D. ’17), Law Review symposium editor. “The symposium allows us to discuss this important issue while also highlighting our stellar Health Law program, which is consistently ranked within the top ten programs in the nation.”
Dr. Dean Karampelas (J.D./M.S.H.A. ’14), critical care medicine and pulmonology specialist with the Northeast Georgia Health System will offer a physician’s perspective on end-of-life decision-making and Alan Meisel, professor of bioethics, professor of law and psychiatry and director, Center for Bioethics and Health Law, University of Pittsburgh and Thaddeus Pope, professor of law and director of the Health Law Institute at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, will share legal perspectives.
End-of-life decisions affecting specific populations, including pregnancy, disability and the elderly, will be examined in one panel discussion, featuring Michele Bratcher Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of law and director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, University of California Irvine, Mary Crossley, professor of law, University of Pittsburgh, and Marshall B. Kapp, professor of medicine & law and director of the Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine & Law, Florida State University College of Law and College of Medicine.
Laws and legislation in Georgia will be discussed by panelists Sylvia Caley, R.N., (M.B.A. ’86, J.D. ’89), clinical professor of law, director, Health Law Partnership and co-director, HeLP Legal Services Clinic, Erin Fuse Brown, assistant professor of law, and Samantha R. Johnson (J.D. ’03, M.B.A. ’14), senior associate general counsel, Grady Health System.
“We all need to be better informed about end-of-life decision-making to respect the choices of individual patients and support the providers involved in their care,” said Leslie Wolf, professor of law and director of Georgia State Law’s Center for Law, Health & Society, which is co-sponsoring the symposium. “The day will feature an amazing array of speakers to walk us through some of the most challenging questions on this topic.”
The symposium has been approved for five general CLE credits, one professionalism credit, and one ethics credit. Admission is $30 plus the cost of any additional CLE/professionalism credits. Breakfast and lunch are provided.