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Kansas City, MO – Children's Mercy is opening a center for pediatric bioethics. The hospital says it needs such a program due to the increasingly complex ethical issues that arise from advancements in medical technology.
Dr. John Lantos is in charge of the new center. He says the growing areas of personalized medicine and genetics at Children's Mercy have great potential, but also raise important ethical concerns.
LANTOS: "What do you do if people find things you didn't want to know - like that you carry a gene for some potentially lethal disease? How much disclosure is appropriate?"
Dr. Lantos says the new center will conduct research and provide support to both health care workers and the community at large regarding such complicated issues. He also says the new pediatric center is the second of its kind in the country, and hopes it will be a resource for places beyond the Kansas City region.
Funding for health care coverage on KCUR has been provided by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
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