Economism and the Unavoidable Activism of Bioethics

Examining medicine’s relationship with the pharmaceutical industry, and how health policy and cost containment in the U.S. may persuade one of two things: first, bioethics was born out of social activism and cannot escape its activist tendencies; second, an ideology (called economism, neoliberalism, and various other names) has seized control of much of American political and popular thought, and allows little space for a robust debate and analysis of many of the issues bioethics ought to be most concerned about. An unavoidable need for activism in bioethics today is to take on this ideology, reveal its defects, and call for alternative frameworks of thought that will allow important bioethical issues to be addressed in a more fruitful way.

Join us for Dr. Brody’s lecture on Tuesday, March 26, 2013 from noon till 1 pm in person or online:

In person: The lecture will take place in East Fee Hall on MSU’s East Lansing campus, in room E4 (first floor next to bookstore lobby area). Feel free to bring your lunch! Beverages and light snacks will be provided.

Online: Here are some instructions for your first time joining the webinar, or if you have attended or viewed them before, go to the meeting!

Howard Brody, MD, PhD, is Director of the Institute for the Medical Humanities and the John P. McGovern Centennial Chair in Family Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. His most recent books are The Future of Bioethics (2009) and The Golden Calf: Economism and American Policy (2012). Before moving to UTMB in 2006 he spent 26 years in the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences and the Department of Family Practice at MSU. Much of his recent work addresses the interface between bioethics and health policy, especially ethical cost containment and medicine’s relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.

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