Current events--recent articles--orphan comments :)

Class:  If I've forgotten to start a topic, or you've thought of something else you want to say and it doesn't fit any where else, put it here!

Case 18 Unprotected Sex

Smart students, you know the drill!

Please Don't Tell (HIV case from essay p. 218)

Please comment on the case from the reading pp. 218-221.  What would you do?

Case 13 voodoo brother

Please comment thoughtfully on the questions pp. 702-3.

Confidentiality

Please comment here on the HIV or the Tarasoff case essays.

Final Course Reflections

Thank you for your participation in this class.  I hope you will be able to complete the on-line course evaluations.  It would also be helpful to me if you could comment on each question below.  

1. So, what is medical ethics? Is it an important subject to study? Why/why not?

2. Reflect on your experience in this class.  Were you able to contribute to class discussion?  Were you well-prepared?  An active participant in class? Active on-line?  Why/why not?

3. What is the most valuable idea/lesson/argument/skill you will take away from class?

4. What is still confusing to you or never seemed worthwhile?

5. Is the blog helpful in understanding the material?  Please explain how I could improve the use of the blog for real understanding of the course material.  Comment on frequency of required postings, topics,% of final grade, etc.
6. What have you learned in the course that surprised you?
7. What experience in your life resonated in this course?  Do you have any suggestions to better link your life experiences, and the experiences of students like you, with course material/topics?
8. Generally, why are you in school?  Do you think you would take more philosophy if money/time weren't factors?  Explain.

Case 10 (due before 3 May)

Please discuss Case 10 here, UNLESS YOU'VE ALREADY POSTED PREVIOUSLY ON CASE 10--sorry! my mistake!

Stem Cell distribution problem

Class,

A brief article about problems in the supply of embryonic stem cell lines to researchers:
http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57274/

Genetics & Families

Dear Students,
I think this story will be worth listening to, so we can discuss. It is about a family whose son needed a bone marrow transplant; the parents used IVF techniques to conceive another child selected to be free of the underlying disease, so that the second child could serve as a bone marrow donor for the first.
Yeah, couldn't be any more controversial or relevant to upcoming classes!
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-04-05/savior-siblings

Current Events

Two articles

http://s.nyt.com/u/HIe (story about a palliative care doctor who died)
http://s.nyt.com/u/HEJ (on a controversial new HIV treatment strategy)

http://s.nyt.com/u/KJN (doctors and politics)
http://s.nyt.com/u/Kqk (on whistle-blowing)

Comment on one or more stories here.

HIV

Newstory about a man infected with HIV for decades, but has never developed AIDS.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june10/peru_04-01.html

Comment here.

Should Genes be Patented? CLOSED

Watch news story about the new legal ruling at:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june10/patents_04-02.html

Then comment here.

Case 45: Justice & Personal Responsibility (26 Apr) CLOSED

Class,

Respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of Case 45, p. 718.

Case 29: Neonatal Care (26 Apr) CLOSED

Class,

Respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of Case 29, p. 709.

Case 10: Hospitals & Economic Incentives (26 Apr) CLOSED

Class,

Respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of Case 10, p. 701. Again, comment with respect to the new law if you can.

Case 9: Managed Care (26 Apr) CLOSED

Class,

Respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of Case 9, p. 700. Comment on the case in light of recent changes in the U.S. law regarding health care (to the best of your ability).

Case 38: Preimplantation & Huntington's (19 Apr) CLOSED

Class,

Respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of Case 38, p. 714.

Case 42: IVF & Delayed Twinning (12 Apr) CLOSED

Class,

Respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of Case 42, p. 716.

Case 34: Embryonic Stem Cells, $$, Politics (12 Apr) CLOSED

Class,

Respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of Case 34, p. 712.

Case 12: Nurse & Informed Consent (week of 5 Apr) CLOSED

Class,

Respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of Case 12, p. 702.

Private Practice (withdrawal of care) CLOSED

Where else do you get to watch TV for class?! :)

Comment to this post.

http://abc.go.com/watch/private-practice/127386/255431/pulling-the-plug

Grey's Anatomy (on suicide) CLOSED

Thanks to several students for alerting me to this episode. Post your comments here about the issue(s), rather than say, side discussions about Dr. McDreamy....

Hospice & Living Wills CLOSED

Comments or questions about hospice? Post them here.

More detail on living wills (which differ by state) can be found at these links:
Kentucky http://www.caringinfo.org/userfiles/File/Kentucky.pdf
Ohio http://www.caringinfo.org/UserFiles/File/Ohio.pdf
Indiana http://www.caringinfo.org/userfiles/File/Indiana.pdf

Remember that most important of all is talking to your family about your wishes. They can't help you if they don't know what you want.

Follow up to 22 March class (euthanasia) CLOSED

Do you want to comment on the Oregon state law legalizing physician-assisted suicide? Comment on the Panicola reading about Catholic traditions relating to death & dying? Compare, contrast, or comment on any of the euthanasia readings (Rachels, Callahan, Brock)? You are invited to make any of those comments here.

"Last Lecture" Randy Pausch CLOSED

After watching the video of Dr. Pausch's "last lecture", comment here.

Video at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5700431505846055184#

Current Events: Health Care

What do you see in the news that is related to class? We'll talk about social justice and health care systems later, but since there is pending legislative action on a U.S. health care overhaul, you might want to comment on that (keep it philosophical, please, no political grandstanding). Other current events we might see include advances in genetic technologies, cases like the OctoMom from a few years ago or cases where parents don't take their children for medical treatment due to religious objections and the children die or get very sick, etc. I'll try to prompt you on these stories, but you might see them first.

Bill Moyers' film on death & dying CLOSED

Students,

What did you think about the death & dying film? You can respond here with just your reactions and/or you can specifically respond to one or a few of the questions from your handout (sent in email with the agenda for last week's class).

Case 5: Dentist & Pt. Autonomy (22 Mar) CLOSED

Class,

Respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of Case 5 (p. 699).

Case 3: Pt. Responsibility (22 Mar) CLOSED

Class,
Read case 3 (p. 698) and respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end.

Case 25: Honoring a Living Will CLOSED

Read Case 25 (p. 707) and respond collectively and thoughtfully to the questions at the end of the case.

Case 26: Minor Refusing Life-Sustaining Treatment CLOSED

Class,
Follow-up to the case we read and discussed in class (Case 26 p. 208 in your text). Anything else you'd like to say? Something you thought of later?

Welcome & Introductions (due 15 Mar) CLOSED

Dear Students,
Welcome to Bioethics. I think you are going to learn a lot, work hard, and enjoy this class. We'll talk about many topics you already think you know and others that are fresh and new. You'll improve your analytic thinking skills, your active listening abilities, and develop your empathetic capacities for seeing many sides of each issue.

Let's start by introducing ourselves, so we can jump on in to some engaged dialogue about these serious philosophical topics.

I'm your professor--Cate Sherron. Please call me "Dr. Cate." I have been teaching bioethics (also called medical ethics) for over 10 years--as long as I have been at TMC. I studied medical ethics as an undergraduate at Miami University--I have a Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies focusing in medical ethics (a mouthful, eh?). I loved medical ethics so much, I went to graduate school to continue my studies, finishing an MA in medical ethics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I switched to philosophy of science studies for my Ph.D., but have never lost my interest in medical ethics.

Other relevant information about me.... last year I conducted a workshop in medical ethics for the medical social workers at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital. I sit on the ethics board for Hospice of the Bluegrass. (Apparently I am a part of one of those notorious "death panels"--we can talk more about that in class!!). I am also a volunteer with Hospice, as part of what is called the 11th Hour Program--I sit with actively dying patients who have no one else to be with them.

My other non-academic interests include travel, hosting foreign exchange students, swing dancing, mountain biking, singing, cooking, reading, and gardening.

I am very much looking forward to having class with you.

Dr. Cate