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MEADVILLE, Pa. – Jan. 19, 2009 – James Drane, Russell B. Roth Professor of Clinical Bioethics, emeritus, at Edinboro University, will present “Medicine: A Profession in Danger” on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Henderson Auditorium of Quigley Hall at Allegheny College.

Drane is the author of numerous books including “Caring to the End,” “Clinical Bioethics,” “Becoming a Good Doctor,” “Religion and Ethics,” “Quality of Life,” “Your Emotional Life,” “The Possibility of God,” “A New American Reformation” and, most recently, “More Humane Medicine: A Liberal Catholic Bioethics.”

His articles have appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Hastings Center Report, Health Progress, Linacre Quarterly, America, the Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic and Cross Currents. Now retired, he provides consultations and educational programs for hospices and home health-care agencies in Western Pennsylvania.

Drane earned a Ph.D. in philosophy and ethics from the University of Madrid and has held visiting appointments at the University of Madrid and University of Tennessee Medical Schools, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University and the Menninger School of Psychiatry. Recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Chair of Pennsylvania, he has also received numerous grants and fellowships.

A Jesuit priest for 13 years, he studied at the prestigious Gregorian University in Rome. When he published a newspaper article condoning birth control, he was defrocked and forced to begin his life all over again. Although he lost an appeal to Rome, he was laicized, which meant that although he no longer could perform his priestly duties in any public or official capacity, he could still minister to Catholics in periods of distress.

The Lehman Medical Ethics Lecture Series, which is free and open to the public, is made possible by a gift from Allegheny College alumnus and retired orthopedic surgeon John W. Lehman, M.D., class of 1954, and his wife, Deborah. In addition, the Lehmans are helping to fund a four-credit class in medical ethics at Allegheny College.

For more information about the presentation, contact Kirsten Peterson, director of pre-professional studies, at (814) 332-2845.