The Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation (MMRF) is the research arm of Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), an acute care research and teaching hospital staffed by the physicians of Hennepin Faculty Associates (HFA). The MMRF is the third-largest nonprofit medical research organization in Minnesota and it ranks in the top seven percent of all institutions receiving research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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2008 Dr. Milton G. Ettinger Lecture Series

Doctoring, Torture, and
the War on Terror

Steven H. Miles MD

In January, MMRF and the Neurology Department at Hennepin hosted the 6th biennial Ettinger Lecture.  The Ettinger Lecture series was created to explore controversial medical topics that industry may not be interested in sponsoring.

Steven H. Miles, MD, University of MN Professor of Medicine, and Bioethicist was the speaker.  He is an expert on the use of torture in war and conflicts.  He has written a new book titled Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror.  In it he examines the history of torture in the War on Terror and the role that medical professionals have played in carrying out torture.

In the lecture, Dr. Miles discussed how the revelation of torture at Abu Ghraib triggered a fierce debate among medical professionals, politicians, and the general public about the role of medical professionals in the war on terror. He argued that some of the medical professionals involved in the instances of torture did not live up to their ethical duties of care for the sick and injured.  He believes that to maintain the integrity of the medical profession, all those needing medical attention must be treated humanely, regardless of the circumstances.

The Ettinger Lecture Series was established in honor of the retirement of Milton Ettinger, MD.