Healthlink On Air

Life-and-death decisions were once made exclusively by doctors, but nowadays those matters are largely in the hands of patients. This can create conflict as relatives disagree over how to treat a failing patient, for example, and that‘s where ethics consultants can help. Two such consultants at Upstate University Hospital – neonatologist Life-and-death decisions were once made exclusively by doctors, but nowadays those matters are largely in the hands of patients. This can create conflict as relatives disagree over how to treat a failing patient, for example, and that‘s where ethics consultants can help. Two such consultants at Upstate University Hospital – neonatologist Thomas Curran, MD Thomas Curran, MD (at right in photo), and attorney (at right in photo), and attorney Robert Olick, JD, PhD (at left), Robert Olick, JD, PhD (at left), who are both bioethics and humanities faculty members at Upstate – explain how they try to clarify and resolve the issues and offer non-binding advice. Using a real-life case