John M. Freeman, M.D., is the Lederer Professor Emeritus of Pediatric Epilepsy and Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics. A graduate of Amherst College and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he is trained in both pediatrics and neurology. He has no formal training in ethics, philosophy or theology. He initiated the Division of Pediatric Neurology at Hopkins in 1969, stepped down as Director in 1992, and was the Director of the Division of Pediatric Epilepsy from 1972-2002. Formerly the Director of the Birth Defects Clinic at Johns Hopkins, he became engaged in the discussions of the selection process proposed for children with spina bifida. This experience led him into other ethical discussions regarding newborns with congenital defects, the right to life, death and dying, etc. Dr. Freeman was the creator and first chair of the Johns Hopkins Ethics Committee and chair of the bioethics search committee. He co-authored Tough Decisions: A Casebook in Bioethics (Oxford University Press 1987, 2002) and is also the author of a number of articles in the field of bioethics. |
