Ethical Conversations: Robert Swidler on Health and Law Intersection

In this episode of Taking Healthcare by Storm, Quality Insights Medical Director Dr. Jean Storm speaks with Robert Swidler, M.A., J.D., a veteran health law attorney and bioethicist who served as General Counsel to St. Peter's Health Partners for over a decade, co-teaches Law & Bioethics at Columbia University, and helped shape many of New York's foundational health care laws, including its Health Care Proxy Law and Family Health Care Decisions Act. Robert discusses how informed consent and medical decision-making capacity guide treatment decisions, and explains the purpose of healthcare proxies and New York’s Family Health Care Decisions Act when patients can’t decide for themselves. He also describes forming the Empire State Bioethics Consortium during COVID-19, reflects on why end-of-life choices can become contentious, and argues for moving toward universal single-payer health coverage.If you have any topics or guests you'd like to see on future episodes, reach out to us on our website.The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions, or policies of Quality Insights. Publication number QI-072426-GK