Position Papers
Guidelines on Reducing Conflicts About Treatment Deemed "Futile"
April 2007
From time to time the Catholic Medical Association
(CMA) is asked to intervene in cases in which a physician or health care facility has made and is enforcing a judgment of medical futility, consistent with an internal policy and/or state law, over the objections of a patient and/or family member(s). As an organization, the CMA cannot intervene in particular cases due to their complexity and due to lack of any authority. The CMA can, however, offer guidelines to assist people in working through such issues in a timely, ethical and charitable manner.
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Catholic Medical Association Position Paper on HPV Immunization
January 2007
On June 8, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gardasil® (Merck), a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16, and 18, for use in girls and women 9–26 years of age. On June 29, 2006, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended routine vaccination of girls at 11–12 years of age, with catch-up vaccination of girls and women 13–26 years of age.1 Many parents have asked whether this vaccine is morally licit and whether this recommendation for broad use is warranted. In addition, some public health agencies and legislatures are considering whether immunization for HPV should be made mandatory for school attendance. This statement outlines the Catholic Medical Association’s position on these issues regarding HPV vaccine.
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Vaccines Prepared from Cells Derived from Aborted
Human Fetuses
May 2006
The Catholic Medical Association provides these comments and recommendations regarding a recent statement commissioned by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and prepared by the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAFL; “Moral Reflections on Vaccines Prepared from Cells Derived from Aborted Human Foetuses” *) in order to carry on its mission of upholding the truth of the Catholic Faith in the science and practice of medicine.
The development and utilization of vaccines which effectively reduce and hopefully, eventually eradicate certain infectious diseases afflicting mankind is a “milestone” * of modern medical technology. The Catholic Church supports all morally legitimate means that medical science uses to prevent and alleviate suffering related to human illness. However, circumstances have arisen in which development and /or application of certain medical techniques, even though effective, are morally illicit and must be condemned and actively opposed. The recent statement of the PAFL addresses ethical questions regarding the “lawfulness of production, distribution and use of certain vaccines whose production is connected with acts of procured abortion.”*
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Assisted Nutrition And Hydration In Persistent Vegetative State
May 2004 PDF
“Therapeutic Touch” Is Not a Catholic Hospital Pastoral
Practice
May 2004
“Therapeutic touch” is an increasingly popular form of healing intervention. But is “therapeutic touch” medicine or religion? If medicine, have its techniques been evaluated by scientific standards and are they scientifically valid? If a religion, is it compatible with Catholic doctrine? This position paper will address these issues. We will first define “therapeutic touch,” give a brief history and outline its economic impact; second, review “therapeutic touch’s” record of scientific and clinical efficacy; and finally, examine “therapeutic touch’s” role as a Catholic pastoral care practice. Click here for full paper (PDF)
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