Philosophy Professor to give presentation on “TV’s ‘House, M.D.’ and Medical Ethics”

Morgantown, WV, September 12, 2006: On October 24, Dr. Mark Wicclair, Professor of Philosophy in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and Adjunct Professor of Community Medicine at West Virginia University, will give a presentation offering a critical analysis of ethical issues in the FOX television series, “House, M.D.” Several illustrative excerpts from the series also will be shown.

The presentation, titled “TV’s ‘House, M.D.’ and Medical Ethics,” will be held at 7:30 pm in Room 459 of the Business & Economics Building on Tuesday, October 24th.

“Paradoxically, House, M.D. is an ideal subject for a presentation on medical ethics because the main character, Dr. Gregory House, consistently violates accepted ethical standards. Seeing him succeed in diagnosing and treating patients’ conditions even though, or often because, he has violated ethical rules, invites viewers to examine their basis and justification,” explains Dr. Wicclair.

He continues, “House, M.D. is popular among physicians, medical students, and the general public, and many of my own students are regular viewers. A fascinating question is why a show that features a gruff and insulting physician who flaunts ethical rules, disregards patients’ wishes, and tries to avoid contact with patients would appeal to doctors, medical students, and the general public.” The following are among the categories Wicclair devised for the excerpts he will show and analyze: “the patient as illness”; “etiquette schmetiquette”; “lies, deception, and trickery”; “no pressure is undue”; and “who needs informed consent?”

A prominent medical ethicist, Dr. Wicclair gave a similar presentation at the 2006 Bioethics Summer Retreat in Lake Tahoe, California. That was an exclusive conference, attended by some of the most prominent bioethicists in the U.S.

Wicclair received a WVU Foundation Outstanding Teacher Award in 1989 and a College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award in 1988. He received a Benedum Distinguished Scholar Award in 1996 and an Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Researcher Award in 1995. He also received an Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Public Service Award in 1997.

For more information, please contact Dr. Wicclair at Mark.Wicclair@mail.wvu.edu or Dr. Sharon Ryan, Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Sharon.Ryan@mail.wvu.edu.

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