Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Current Events

The cost of health insurance this year rose more steeply than in previous years, outstripping wages and adding uncertainty about the pace of growing costs. http://s.nyt.com/u/8GG9

Monday, September 26, 2011

Case 8 Nurse & Informed Consent (Week II)

Respond to the case, using the questions to guide your response.

Case 7 Cosmetic Surgery (Week II)

Respond, using the questions from the case to form your answer.  What would Kant say about this situation?

Case 4 Dentist & Pt Autonomy (Week II)

Respond to the case, answering the embedded questions.  What would Kant say about this situation?  Is it important to respect autonomy?  Why or why not?

Case 22 Honoring a Living Will

Do you have a Living Will?  What would you recommend in this situation?  Answer questions p. 717.  What might a utilitarian say in this situation?

Case 2 Useless Tx

Comment on what you would recommend for the resolution of this case.  Answer the questions p. 708 as you do so.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Initial questions about dying

Not everyone must answer all the prompts.  You can answer as groups and/or individuals.  The goal here is a rich discussion.

Prompts:
* How do you want to die?  Where do you want to die?
* How would you determine what is 'appropriate care'?  Is doing nothing ever appropriate?  When?
* What is a good death?
* How is death removed from us?
* Do you have an obligation to care for a family member who is dying?  At what cost to yourself?
* How would you negotiate between the patient and close family?  Is the patient the unit of care?  The patient + family?  How often?  Under what circumstances?

Frontline Facing Death video

What was your reaction to the Frontline video? 


There are lots of good resources on the Frontline Facing Death website.  See the Facts and Figures page, for example.

Expectations: What is Philosophy?


What do you expect out of this class? 1a. What is philosophy? 1b. Why is thinking philosophically about issues like death or cloning important?

Current Events

What's going on the news related to this course?

Introductions

You all probably know each other, but would you introduce yourselves to me?  Who are you?  What connection to health care (if any) do you have?  What are your expectations for this course?  What examples of ethical concerns in health care are you aware of?