Caplan takes bioethics to the masses

Media-savvy Arthur Caplan is considered the world's top expert on medical ethics. Arthur Caplan sits in his office with a Jesse Ventura doll on his window sill, a Starbucks grande latte on his desk and a wall full of bioethics books within arm's reach. While this may seem like a strange mix for one of the world's most prominent bioethicists, it exemplifies Caplan's drive as director of Penn's Center for Bioethics to link his field with the mainstream public in order to thrive. Caplan said he made a conscious decision in the early 1980s to bring bioethics -- the study of moral issues in medical treatment and research -- into the public eye, despite critics who said the discipline should remain purely academic. "We can write articles until we fall over," Caplan said, but the only way to reach patients or families -- the people who are ultimately going to be making bioethical decisions -- is through the media, even if it might be via a short television spot. "You take what you get," he said. "If you get 10 seconds, you use it well." Caplan certainly has used his 10 seconds well, becoming arguably the most well-known and well-respected bioethicist in the world. News reporters routinely go to him for his opinion on genetic testing, assisted suicide, reproductive technology, euthanasia and other current ethically charged medical issues. "[Caplan] is a recognized leader in the field," said Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. "He is probably the strongest voice for bioethics in the public eye for the last decade or more." But Caplan, 49, was not always interested in bioethics. He got a doctoral degree in philosophy from Columbia University in 1979 and only came to bioethics by chance after meeting someone from the Hastings Center, a bioethics think tank, on an airplane. "I didn't know what bioethics was and I sure didn't care," he said, but he gained interest in it and proceeded to work at the Hastings Center in New York and teach medical ethics at Columbia. In 1986, he set up the medical ethics program at the University of Minnesota. During his tenure, though, he met current Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura when Caplan guest-hosted Ventura's radio show. "He and I are buddies," he said. In 1993, Penn Health System Chief Executive Officer William Kelley came calling, saying he wanted to start a bioethics program at Penn. Caplan said he "wasn't that interested" at first but came to visit the campus nonetheless. "What really pulled me here was the geography of campus," which allows the center to use the academic resources of the campus, he said. The Center for Bioethics, founded in 1994, is officially part of the Medical School but it "has a mandate to respond to the University as a whole," Caplan said. Made up of over 20 full- and part-time faculty from University departments and schools like Philosophy, Medicine, Nursing, Law and Sociology, the Center for Bioethics runs a master's degree program through the College of General Studies and co-sponsors an undergraduate concentration in bioethics through the Department of History and Sociology of Science. "I don't think there is a place on campus, from the Engineering School to the Vet School, that we aren't at least peripherally" involved with, he said. And in addition to its involvement in the University and talking to the media and state legislators, the Center boasts a comprehensive bioethics World Wide Web site. "That has about 300,000 visits a week, which is, you know, porno levels," Caplan quipped. Caplan attributes the current popularity of bioethics to it being a way for people to discuss ethics without doing so from a religious standpoint. "Society is fairly religious but doesn't know how to talk to one another," he said. "Bioethics becomes a vehicle for that." And while topics like genetics, assisted suicide and reproductive technology have been the focus of much attention in the past few months -- especially at Penn, with the recent death of an experimental gene therapy patient -- Caplan said these are not the most important issues in bioethics today. Other issues, like nursing home care, rehabilitation ethics and privacy issues, are more important, he said, because they impact more people than "technology-driven" ethical questions. "Way more people are going to be in rehab than are going to be in gene therapy for a long time to come," Caplan explained. He added that in the next few years more studies will come out in unexplored areas of bioethics. "There are entire areas where nothing's been said. I'm the world authority on taking sperm out of dead men because I wrote the two papers" on it, he said. When Caplan isn't at work, though, he tries to stay away from bioethics. "I can't stand to watch ER and shows like that because I deal with it all day." Instead, he enjoys playing tennis with his 15-year-old son, traveling, reading and working out -- he's a self-proclaimed "old jock," having played football and lacrosse in high school and college. As for his students, they appreciate Caplan's ability to relate to all types of people and make them feel at ease. "He makes himself accessible," second-year Bioethics graduate student Umi Chong said. "A lot of people wouldn't expect that."