Center for Bioethics / People / Casarett
David Jonathan Casarett
Associate Professor of Medicine
Faculty, Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania
Fellow, University of Pennsylvania Institute on Aging
Staff physician and Director, Palliative Care, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics
Department: Medicine
Contact information
Ralston-Penn Center
3615 Chestnut St, Rm 304
Philadelphia, PA 19104
3615 Chestnut St, Rm 304
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-898-2583
Fax: 215-573-8684
Fax: 215-573-8684
Email:
casarett@mail.med.upenn.edu
casarett@mail.med.upenn.edu
Education:
B.A. (Anthropology)
Swarthmore College, 1989.
M.S. (Medical Anthropology)
Case Western Reserve University, 1993.
M.D. (Medicine)
Case Western Reserve University, 1993.
B.A. (Anthropology)
Swarthmore College, 1989.
M.S. (Medical Anthropology)
Case Western Reserve University, 1993.
M.D. (Medicine)
Case Western Reserve University, 1993.
Certifications
Certification American Board of Internal Medicine , 1996.
Certification American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine , 2001.
Recertification American Board of Internal Medicine , 2006.
Recertification American Board of Internal Medicine , 2016.
Permanent linkCertification American Board of Internal Medicine , 1996.
Certification American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine , 2001.
Recertification American Board of Internal Medicine , 2006.
Recertification American Board of Internal Medicine , 2016.
Description of Bioethics Expertise
RESEARCH INTERESTS:End-of-life care, palliative care, research ethics
ABOUT:
David Casarett's clinical work focuses on the care of dying patients, and his scholarship addresses the ethical challenges of informed consent for research and clinical care in patients near the end of life and other vulnerable groups. His research has focused on informed consent near the end of life, and the way that decisions are negotiated between patients, their families, and providers. His work in the setting of research ethics explores ways in which the paradigm of consensual decision-making can be applied to informed consent in research that involves patients near the end of life, and other vulnerable groups.
Dr. Casarett is a member of the ethics committee of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and he is Chair of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Task Force on the ethics of end of life research. He has served on end of life panels for the American College of Physicians and the American Thoracic Society and is a Faculty Leader in the Veterans Affairs End of Life Project. He has given presentations throughout the US and abroad on end of life care and the ethics of research.
Dr. Casarett completed his undergraduate work at Swarthmore College, and obtained his MD at Case Western Reserve University, where he also completed an MA in Medical Anthropology. He was a resident and Chief resident at the University of Iowa, and pursued fellowships in ethics and in Palliative Medicine at the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. He has recently joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where he is an Instructor in the Division of Geriatrics. He is on staff at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, where he has developed an innovative Palliative Care Consultation Clinic.
Dr. Casarett's research is funded by grants from the Commonwealth Fund, the Greenwall Foundation, the VistaCare Foundation, and the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Selected Publications
Casarett D, Pickard A, Fishman JM, Alexander SC, Arnold RM, Pollak KI, Tulsky JA.: Can metaphors and analogies improve communication with seriously ill patients? Journal of Palliative Medicine. 13(3): 255-60, Mar 2010.Fishman J. Ten Have T. Casarett D.: Cancer and the media: how does the news report on treatment and outcomes? Archives of Internal Medicine 170(6): 515-8, Mar 22 2010.
Finlay E, Casarett D: Making difficult discussions easier: using prognosis to facilitate transitions to hospice. CA Cancer J Clin 59(4): 250-263, 2009 Notes: Epublication 2009 June 17th.
Finlay E, Lu H, Henderson H, O'Dwyer P, Casarett D: Do phase 1 patients have greater needs for palliative care compared with other cancer patients? Cancer 115(2): 446-453, 2009.
Fishman J, O'Dwyer P, Lu H, Henderson H, Asch D, Casarett D: Race, treatment preferences, and hospice enrollment: Eligibility criteria may exclude patients with the greatest needs for care. Cancer 115(3): 689-697, 2009.
Casarett D, Fishman JM, Lu HL, O’Dwyer PJ, Barg FK, Naylor MD, Asch DA: The terrible choice: re-evaluating hospice eligibility criteria for cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 27(6): 953-9, 2009.
Casarett D, Pickard A, Bailey A, Ritchie CS, Furman CD, Rosenfeld K, Shreve S, Shea J: A Nationwide VA Palliative Care Quality Measure: The Family Assessment of Treatment at End of Life. Journal of Palliative Medicine 11(1): 68-75, 2008.
Casarett D, Pickard A, Amos Bailey F, Ritchie C, Furman C, Rosenfeld K, Shreve S, Shea J: Important aspects of end-of-life care among veterans: Implications for Measurement and Quality Improvement. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 35(2): 115-125, 2008.
Casarett, D: Do palliative consultations improve patient outcomes? Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 56(4): 593, 2008.
Finley E, Shreve S, Casarett D: Nationwide veterans affairs quality measure for cancer: The Family Assessment of Treatment at End-of-life. Journal of Clinical Oncology 26: 3838-44, 2008.