Hastings Center News

Daniel Callahan Receives Health Care Ethics Medal

Hastings Center cofounder and President Emeritus Daniel Callahan was awarded the 2018 Edmund Pellegrino Medal for Healthcare Ethics. The award, given annually by Samford University’s Center for Faith and Health, honors individuals recognized nationally as leaders for their contributions to health care ethics “in the selfless spirit of Edmund D. Pellegrino,” a preeminent scholar and pioneer in bioethics.

The award was presented on September 7 at the Healthcare Ethics and Law Conference at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Hastings research scholar Michael Gusmano read remarks written by Callahan, who could not attend the event.

In his remarks, Callahan reflected on the implications of worldwide medical progress. The achievement of longer lifespans worldwide may be a significant medical accomplishment, but greater population size and rapidly aging societies will intensify global warming and resource scarcity. Callahan called for a reexamination of what the goals of medicine ought to be and whether achieving longer lives should be the ultimate goal.

Gusmano was also was a keynote speaker at the conference. His presentation, “The Ethics of Access to Health Care: Evidence from the World Cities Project,” drew on his work as codirector of the World Cities Project, which compares the performance of large city health systems across the world.

Read more about the award here.