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Cracking the Code: Unilateral DNRs, Moral Distress, and Narrative Coherence - Richard Leiter

Thursday, January 22, 2026 | 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM CT
Robert H Lurie Medical Research Center, Searle seminar room, 303 E. Superior, Chicago, IL 60611 map it

The Master of Arts in Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program

 

Presents

 

A Montgomery Lecture

 

With

 

Richard Leiter, MD, MA
Senior Physician
Director, Adult Palliative Care Inpatient Consult Service
Department of Supportive Oncology
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School

Cracking the Code: Unilateral DNRs, Moral Distress, and
Narrative Coherence

Clinician-initiated do not resuscitate orders (“unilateral DNRs) involve the decision to withhold CPR and mechanical ventilation without a patient or their surrogate’s consent. In this talk, I will examine the ethics of these orders, using case examples from my clinical experience as a palliative care physician. Drawing on an approach based in narrative ethics, I will suggest a path forward that recenters patients and families in care decisions, while acknowledging healthcare worker expertise and emotion.

This lecture is open to the public and will be held in the Searle Seminar Room in the Lurie Research Building (303 E Superior St), Chicago Campus. For those outside the Chicago area and anyone who would prefer to attend remotely, a Zoom option is also available.

Only Zoom attendees are required to register
** PLEASE REGISTER TO RECEIVE THE ZOOM LINK**
REGISTER HERE

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Cost: free - only Zoom attendees are required to register

Audience

  • Faculty/Staff
  • Student
  • Public
  • Post Docs/Docs
  • Graduate Students

Contact

Myria Knox   (312) 503-7962

p-knox@northwestern.edu

Interest

  • Academic (general)

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