Newswise — The following faculty members of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics will be available as noted to comment on the ethical, legal and social implications of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), expected Thursday, June 28 at 10:00 am EDT. Please contact media relations officer Leah Ramsay to schedule.
Leslie Meltzer Henry, M.Sc., JDFaculty, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of BioethicsAssistant Professor, University of Maryland Carey School of LawAvailable for phone interview Thursday from 11:00 am
Henry is an expert and experienced commentator on the ACA; she is co-author of a 2011 paper titled “Commerce Games and the Individual Mandate,” published in the Georgetown Law Journal, as well as an op-ed supporting the individual mandate’s constitutionality: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-03-22/news/bs-ed-health-mandate-20120322_1_individual-mandate-health-insurance-premiums
Henry is available to discuss how the Court came to its decision, how the decison fits with the Court’s long-term trajectory and legacy, as well as the ethical issues of both the law and the decision.Bio: http://www.law.umaryland.edu/faculty/profiles/faculty.html?facultynum=616
Ruth Faden, Ph.D., M.P.H.Director, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of BioethicsProfessor, Department of Health Policy & Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthAvailable for phone interview
Faden is an international thought leader in applying social justice principles to bioethics and public health policy, and is available to comment on the moral and ethical implications of the Court’s decision.
In a 2009 opinion published in Science Progress, co-authored with Jonathan D. Moreno, in support of health care reform she wrote: “there is a line between appropriate self interest and simple selfishness. Opposing health care reform crosses that line.”
On passage of the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, Faden said, “This historic legislation, for the first time, enshrines a national commitment to guarantee that all of us in this country have meaningful access to appropriate medical care. As a consequence, our society is now more just. Our people have a greater prospect of securing for themselves and their families not only more health, but also more of everything that is essential to human well-being, including personal security, respect and self determination.”
She is also author of Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy (with Madison Powers, 2011)Bio: http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/mshome/?id=64Science Progress opinion: http://scienceprogress.org/2009/08/health-care-reform-ethics/
Jeffrey Kahn, Ph.D., M.P.H.Deputy Director and Professor of Bioethics and Public Policy, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of BioethicsAvailable Thursday in Baltimore, MD
Kahn recently joined the Board of Health Sciences Policy at the Institute of Medicine and serves on numerous other state and federal advisory panels. From 1998-2002 he wrote the bi-weekly column Ethics Matters on CNN.com, and was founding president of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors. Bio: http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/mshome/?ID=148
Michelle Huckaby Lewis, MD, JDResearch Scholar, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of BioethicsAvailable Thursday afternoon and Friday in northern VA/ Washington, DC area
Lewis is a pediatrician and an attorney with training in bioethics and health services research. She is available to discuss the physician and patient perspective, which she can reflect on from both sides due to her personal health history; Dr. Lewis was born a “blue baby” with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. Her experience living with this and having two open-heart surgeries – the first at 3 years old – have inspired her passion about the need for health care reform.Bio: http://www.dnapolicy.org/about.staff.php?action=detail&bios_id=52
Leonard Rubenstein, JD, LLMAssociate faculty, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of BioethicsCore faculty, Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthAvailable Thursday
Rubenstein is a lawyer who has spent his career in human rights law and policy, and now focuses particularly on health and human rights. He can speak to the ethics and social justice aspects of health care and public health with an understanding of legal and policy issues. In 2011, Rubenstein received the Sidel-Levy Award for Peace from the American Public Health Association for his work to protect physicians in areas of armed conflict.Bio: http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/mshome/?id=149
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