Dr. Komrad is a practicing psychiatrist and medical ethicist for over 30 years. He is now lecturing widely throughout the world to address his ethical concerns regarding physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, particularly for psychiatric patients. (See a more detailed presentation below). His lecture will have special emphasis on the practice of physician-assisted suicide in the US and the "Oregon model" of legal regulation.
After Dr. Komrad's lecture there will be commentaries from Ole Martin Moen (philosopher and researcher at the University of Oslo and an associate professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway), and Dr. Morten Horn (senior physician at the Neurological Department of Oslo University Hospital).
In 1997, Oregon became the first US state to legalise assisted dying, in the form of physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Patients who are estimated to have less than six months left to live and who fulfill certain other criteria are eligible for PAS. The «Oregon model» has been pointed to as a possible model for the legalisation of assisted dying («aktiv dødshjelp») in Norway.
Program
10.15-11.10: Dr. Mark Komrad: "Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the US, Canada and Benelux: Good Medical Ethics versus Bad Public Policy"
11.10-11.30: Commentaries from Ole Martin Moen and Morten Horn (10 minutes each)
11.30-12.00: Plenary debate
The seminar will be held in English.
Contact: Morten Magelssen
Mark Komrad MD is a practicing psychiatrist and medical ethicist for over 30 years. He is the Ethicist for The Sheppard Pratt Health Systems—the largest non-profit mental health provider in Maryland, USA. He is on the teaching faculty of Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland and Tulane. He is a member of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Assembly and previously served 6 years on the APA Ethics Committee. In these two capacities, he helped craft and pass the new APA Position Statement finalized in December 2016:
“...a psychiatrist should not prescribe or administer any intervention to a NON-terminally ill person for the purpose of causing death.”
He is now lecturing widely throughout the world to address his ethical concerns regarding physician assisted suicide and euthanasia, particularly for psychiatric patients. He speaks widely to physicians, and also policy makers in several countries trying to dissuade them from legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia or to prevent extending existing laws to include psychiatric conditions. He uses clinical and ethical arguments against these practices based his extensive experience as a clinical psychiatrist and medical ethicist,
Dr. Komrad has a psychiatric practice treating patients, with a special interest in helping families convince a troubled loved one to get a psychiatric consultation. He was awarded the “Exemplary Psychiatrist Award” and the “Mental Health Professional of the Year Award” by the National Alliance on Mental Illness in the U.S. Dr. Komrad was also host of the national radio call-in talk show about psychiatry, “Komrad On Call,” which broadcast to 43 million listeners throughout the U.S and he continues to appear regularly on TV, radio, and podcasts to discuss topics in psychiatry.