AUGUSTA — Gregory Fahy, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Associate Professor of Philosophy at University of Maine at Augusta, will give a talk about bioethics, inspired by the story of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, in the Community Room at Lithgow Public Library, 45 Winthrop St. The second event in A Capital Read 2017 is free and open to the public.

The book raises a variety of questions about medical ethics. Fahy will address many of these questions from a historical perspective, as well as current practice, and invite audience feedback. Questions will include, What does consent and privacy mean in medicine? How can I assure that I am included in my own medical planning? Does it make sense to say that I own my own body? My body parts? What protections are there for those who consent to be part of a medical research project?

Fahy received his doctorate in Philosophy from Boston University in 1998. His philosophical interests include ethics, bioethics and American pragmatism. He served on the Bioethics Committee at Maine General for eight years. He serves on the Maine Humanities Council and on the Institutional Review Board at the University of Maine at Augusta. He and his family are residents of Hallowell.

A Capital Read is sponsored by Bangor Savings Bank and the Friends of Lithgow Library, in partnership with the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, Barnes and Noble, and the Augusta Civic Center.

Copies of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” are available at Lithgow Library, Bangor Savings Bank Augusta locations, and The Holocaust and Human Rights Center at UMA, while supplies last.

For more information, call Lithgow Library at 626-2415 or visit lithgow.lib.me.us.


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