Weill Medical College of Cornell University

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Medical Ethics

Press Coverage

Press Releases

• Sanford I. Weill and Dr. Joseph J. Fins Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences (April 17, 2012)
• Health Care Reform: The Missing Piece of the Puzzle (March 26, 2012)
• Dr. Joseph J. Fins Leads the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (October 28, 2011)
• Students' Research Study Earns Recognition in Leading Spanish Newspaper (October 2011)
• 9/11 Poem by Dr. Joseph J. Fins Added to iTunes U (September 12, 2011)
• Renowned Medical Ethicist Dr. Joseph Fins Receives Named Professorship (May 20, 2011)
• New Medical Ethics Professorship Honors Renowned Faculty Member (May 9, 2011)
• Raising Awareness About Down Syndrome in Qatar (April 21, 2011)
• Teaching the Same Medical Course on Two Campuses a World Apart Highlights "Hidden Curricula" (April 12, 2011)
• Brain Imaging Provides Window Into Consciousness (February 25, 2011)
• Misuse of FDA Exemption Law May Harm Vulnerable Psychiatric Patients (February 3, 2011)
• Rodríguez del Pozo Research Cited in New York Times (November 2010)
• WCMC-Q Student Researchers Impress at Bioethics Conference in Spain (October 19, 2010)
• Drs. Joseph J. Fins and David J. Skorton Elected to Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (October 11, 2010)
• WCMC-Q Student Researchers Impress at Bioethics Conference in Spain (September 2010)
• Minding the Gap: A Medical School Looks at the Divide Between the Sciences and the Humanities (May 19, 2010)
• Dr. Joseph J. Fins Elected President of American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (January 4, 2010)
• Oath Shirt Raises Funds for Scholarship (April 21, 2008)
• Health Care & Human Rights: A World in Need (February 11, 2008)
• Patient Experience Valuable for Doctors (January 28, 2008)
• Two Federal Public Health Grants Awarded to Weill Cornell Medical College (January 16, 2008)
• Dr. Nicholas Schiff Receives Research Award for Innovation in Neuroscience (December 13, 2007)
• Bookstore Swears By New Shirt (September 24, 2007)
• Weill Cornell Research Ethics Consultation Service: Collaboration that Goes Beyond Regulation (September 14, 2007)
• Medical Mentors, Past and Future (September 10, 2007)
• Patient with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury in "Minimally Conscious State" Shows Functional Improvement After Deep Brain Stimulation (August 2, 2007)
• Dr. Joseph Fins Awarded Prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Investigator Award for Research Into Brain Injury (June 7, 2007)
• Efforts by Dr. Joseph Fins Leads to Passage of the New York State Palliative Care and Training Act (June 4, 2007)
• Medical Research Scientists Make Ethical Value Judgments in Research, Whether They Are Aware of It or Not (May 14, 2007)
• JOSEPH J. FINS, MD, TO BECOME LOCAL GOVERNOR FOR NATIONAL DOCTORS’ GROUP (March 19, 2007)
• Experts Urge More Research, Awareness of "Minimally Conscious State" (March 9, 2007)
• Under Oath: Medical Ethics Seminar Explores the Relevance of the Hippocratic Oath in Today's Medicine (February 12, 2007)
• Dean Gotto and Dr. Joseph Fins Discuss Medical Ethics (March 6, 2006)
• NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Study Examines Loved Ones' Role as Proxies for Terminally Ill (February 28, 2005)
• Improving the Transition to End-of-Life Care (November 18, 2005)
• Dean Gotto Unveils Revised Hippocratic Oath for New Generation of Weill Cornell Graduates (July 1, 2005)
• Dr. Joseph Fins Delivers Inaugural "Humanism at the Cross-Roads" Address (May 3, 2004)
• Severely Brain Injured Deserve More Research, Says Weill Cornell Physician-Ethicist (April 1, 2003)
• Weill Medical College Establishes Faculty Associates Program in Medical Ethics (March 18, 2002)
• Dr. Joseph J. Fins, Leading Medical Ethicist, Receives Wholeness of Life Award From Healthcare Chaplaincy (November 28, 2001)
• Weill Cornell Forms New Division of Medical Ethics (March 20, 2001)

Media Coverage

• Aspen Brain Forum (September 2010)
  • Dr. Fins' talk:"When Ethics become Prosthetic: Bringing Context to the Neural Interface"
  • Panel discussion: "Translating Basic Research into Effective Brain Computer Interface." (Click on link; select “Meeting Report” tab; choose “Ethical Issues” from pull-down menu.)
• Articles quoting Dr. Fins and/or Dr. Schiff regarding NEJM study demonstrating communication abilities in patients thought "vegetative":
  • Los Angeles Times: "Imaging helps diagnosis of severity of brain injuries." (February 15, 2010)
  • New York Times: "The Riddle of Consciousness." (February 5, 2010)
  • Washington Post: "In 'vegetative state' patients, brain scanners show some alert minds." (February 4, 2010)
  • Technology Review: "Brain Imaging Lets Vegetative Patient Communicate." (February 4, 2010)
  • New York Times: "Trace of Thought Is Found in ‘Vegetative’ Patient." Front page article (February 3, 2010)
  • Science Now: "Is There Anybody in There?" (February 3, 2010)
• Weill Cornell Medicine: "Hard Choices." Article featuring Clinical Ethics Service in Spring 2008
• Dana Foundation hosted event: "Discusson of the Ethics of Deep Brain Stimulation." Panel discussion at the First Annual Meeting of the Neuroethics Society (November 13, 2008)
• Halifax Chronicle Herald: "Lessons from the Injured Brain: Bioethics meets Neuroscience." Lecture presented as part of Dalhousie University's Novel Tech Ethics Colloquium (September 25, 2008)
• Diario Medico: "Literatura para ponerse en la piel del enfermo." Dr. Rodriíguez del Pozo's lesson to medical students in Qatar. (September 18, 2008)
• Inaugural plenary lecture to the new Canadian National Core for Neuroethics in Vancouver, British Columbia: "Canadian Origins of Neuroethics: Historic Contributions of Drs. William Osler and Wilder Penfield." (September 11, 2008)
• Hastings Center Report: "Web of Care: How will the Electronic Medical Record Change Medicine?" (September-October, 2008)

Interviews regarding Terri Schiavo and Disorders of Consciousness March 2005:

• MSNBC, "Connected Coast to Coast with Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley." A Live interview: March 21, 2005
• CBS Evening News. Taped interview with Elizabeth Kaledin: March 21, 2005
• WCBS-TV News. Taped interviews with Dr. David Marks: March 21, 2005; March 22, 2005
• WABC-TV News. Taped interview with NJ Burkett March 21, 2005
• PRI/NPR Radio, "To the Point." Live interviews: March 21, 2005; March 22, 2005
• CNN-TV, "Lou Dobbs Tonight." Live interviews: March 21, 2005; March 22, 2005; March 24, 2005; March 31, 2005
• Univision Spanish TV News. Taped interview in Spanish: March 24, 2005
• CBS,"Sunday Morning." Taped interview with Marcia Tichner: March 25 for broadcast March 27, 2005.
• Russian Channel One News. Taped interview: March 25, 2005 for broadcast March 27, 2005.
• Brasilian Globovision News. Taped interview: March 25, 2005 for broadcast March 27, 2005.
• Print Media/Internet:
  • Nature.com
  • Nature
  • The New York Times
  • The New York Times: Week in Review
  • The New York Times: Science Times
  • The Chicago Tribune
  • The Boston Globe
  • Reuters
  • Time
  • Newsday
  • ABC.com
  • Health Day News
• Background:
  • CNN, News Night with Aaron Brown
  • CNN, Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta
  • CBS 60 Minutes II
  • The New York Times
  • Newsweek

Interviews on late recovery from the minimally conscious state and axonal sprouting: Ethical and Policy Implications.

• Benedict Carey. The New York Times. Front page article July 4, 2006.
• Canadian Broadcasting Company "As it Happens with Christopher Thomas." Taped interview broadcast July 4, 2006.
• Brasilian Globovision News. Taped interview July 6, 2006.

Interviews on Science publication indicating signs of awareness in a subject in the persistent vegetative state:

• Benedict Carey. The New York Times. Front page article September 8, 2006.
• Rob Stein. The Washington Post. September 8, 2006.
• Judy Graham. The Chicago Tribune. September 8, 2006.
• Thomas H. Maugh II and Karen Kaplan. The Los Angeles Times. September 8, 2006.
• NPR "All Things Considered." Taped and Broadcast, September 8, 2006.
• CNN. Anderson Cooper 360. Taped interview September 12, 2006 for broadcast September 14, 2006.

Selected Interviews as co-author of 2 August 2007 Nature paper on Deep Brain Stimulation in the Minimally Conscious State. (Background and/or attribution)

• Tom Hayden. Nature for "Making of a Paper" featured in August 2, 2007 issue. July 25, 2007.
• Rachel Bowden. Science Museum of London. July 25, 2007.
• Helen Phillips. New Scientist. July 27, 2007.
• BBC-TV News. July 27, 2007.
• Malcom Ritter. Associated Press. July 30, 2007.
• Mandy Gardner. Health Day. July 30, 2007.
• NPR "All Things Considered." Taped interview with Nell Boyce on July 30, 2007.
• NBC Nightly News. Taped interview on July 31, 2007.
• CBS Evening News. Taped interview on July 31, 2007.
• WCBS-TV News. Taped interview on July 31, 2007.
• Nature World-Wide Audio Press Conference. August 1, 2007. (Multiple media-outlets.)
• Benedict Carey. The New York Times. August 1, 2007.
• PBS. "The Charlie Rose Show." Broadcast August 2, 2007.
• Jeff Kluger. Time Magazine. August 3, 2007.
• W-Radio. Bogota, Colombia. Live Interview in Spanish. August 4, 2007.
• Wayne Laugesen. The National Catholic Register. August 10, 2007
• Jessica Dziedzic. Neurology Reviews. August 23, 2007.

Other Interviews

• WVFF-NBC TV News. Taped Interview on public lecture as Riley Fellow at Furman University. Broadcast, April 20, 2005.
• CNNSpanish. Taped interview on proposed legislation to modify federal rules related to stem cell research. Broadcast May 24, 2005.
• NPR "All Things Considered." Taped interview regarding Terri Schiavo's autopsy results. June 15, 2005.
• KARN Radio. Interview related to Medical Humanities Grand Rounds delivered at University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences. Taped January 31, 2007 for broadcast February 1, 2007.
• WABC-TV News. Taped interview on the ethical and policy implications of stem cells obtained from reprogramming of mice skin cells. Broadcast June 7, 2007.
• Joanne Kenen. Kaiser Media Fellow in Health. Interviewed regarding end-of-life care and health care reform. July 27, 2007.
• Jerome Groopman, M.D. for The New Yorker magazine essay "Silent Minds" of October 15, 2007 on disorders of consciousness, neuroimaging and emerging therapeutics. Interviews and e-mail exchanges June - October 2007.