Syllabus - Medical Ethics - Wilfrid Laurier 2013

PP217: Medical Ethics
Wilfrid Laurier Univeristy

Waterloo Fall 2013
Instructor: Dr. Melany Banks

Office Hours: Wednesdays 9:30-10:30
Office: S004
Lecture: MWF 8:30-9:20 a.m. BA210
Email: [email protected] (or through MyLS)
Course Description:
This course is an investigation into the various ways in which philosophers address ethics in
medical situations. Lectures and discussions will examine areas such as: human experimentation;
informed consent; genetic screening and genetic control; transplantation; and allocation of scarce
medical resources. This course is designed to provide students with: (1) a critical understanding
of key concepts in ethics and medical ethics, (2) the ability to apply these concepts to case
studies and current medical cases, and (3) a solid grasp of the difficulties associated with ethics
and medicine.
Philosophy is a complex enterprise of study which requires sound and coherent analytical skills.
Students are therefore required to complete the weekly assigned readings before coming to class.
Further, since philosophy is concerned with well reasoned arguments students are strongly
advised to expect rigorous analysis of any topic discussed in class, despite the level of
controversy it bears in the eyes of the general public.
Attendance is vital to doing well in this course. The instructor may expand on or cover materials
which are not fully dealt with in the assigned readings. It is the student’s responsibility to be
present at each lecture in order to garner a full understanding of materials which may appear in
the tests.
Required Text:
Bioethics in Canada. Ed. By Charles Weijer, Anthony Skelton, and Samantha Brennan. Oxford
University Press, 2013.
Assessment:
Note: all assignments can be submitted online through My Learning Space OR at the beginning
of class. Late assignments must be handed in online. Note: the word limit on assignments is not a
suggestion. I will only mark what you have written within the specified word limit, up to 100
words over. After that point any further arguments, summaries, etc, will not be included within
your grade. This does not include citations.
Assignment Due Date % of Final Grade

Participation In-class throughout semester 5%
Case Analysis Friday Oct 4 15%
Midterm Friday Oct 18th – in class 20%
Final Essay Proposal Friday Nov 22 5%
Final Essay Monday Dec 2 25%
Final Exam As scheduled by the Exams Office 30%
Participation: Throughout the semester students will be asked to participate in a number of

small group discussions and record their collective answers in order to receive a mark for
participation. You must be present in class in order to receive a mark. The dates for these
discussions will not be announced in advance.
Case Analysis:
(Please see “Case” on the course content page for more details.)
You will be required to summarize, analyze and provide a short counterargument to one case.
Midterm: The midterm will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and longer answer
questions. The midterm will be in-class on Oct 18th. If you will not be present in class on that
day you need to contact me as soon as possible to set up another date to write. Acceptable
reasons for missing class that day are the same as those listed under the late policy. If you miss
the test and do not have an acceptable reason you will receive a mark of zero.
Final Essay:
(Please see “Final Essay” on the course content page for more details.)
You will submit your final essay in two stages. The first stage (due Nov 22) is a proposal. The
proposal will include your thesis statement and list of sources. The second stage (due Dec 2) will
be you final essay. This will be an argumentative essay on one of the topics provided.
Final Exam: The Final Exam will include multiple choice, short and longer answer, and an
essay question. The Final Exam will include material from the entire course, but the focus will be
on the second half of the course.
LATE POLICY
All assignments must be submitted by the specified date and time as indicated on the syllabus.
Assignments submitted in-class are expected at the beginning of the lecture or within the first 10
minutes. Assignments submitted online are expected at the beginning of lecture or within the
first 10 minutes (as recorded by MyLS) Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with
the drop box function on MyLS before an assignment is due in order to ensure they know how to
use it properly. It is your responsibility to ensure your assignment has been properly submitted.
Late assignments will lose 5% per day (including weekends) unless students provide a certified
medical or death certificate, or a legitimate certificate of otherwise compelling reason. The
legitimacy of such reasons is determined by the instructor, and is in line with university policy.
Please familiarize yourself with university policy at www.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=35&p=23064
COURSE OUTLINE AND REQUIRED READINGS (including the date of the midterm.)
All readings are in the text book unless otherwise indicated.
Week 1: Sept 9-13: Introduction

 Principles of Bioethics and how to apply them.
 Moral Theories
Autonomy and Consent

Week 2: Sept 16-20: Consent and Competence
 Buchanan and Brock, “Deciding for Others: Competence” (57)
 Freedman, “A Moral Theory of Informed Consent” (63)
 Misak, “ICU Psychosis and Patient Autonomy: Some Thoughts from the Inside.” (67)
Week 3: Sept 23-27: Futility

 Schneiderman et al. “Medical Futility: Its Meaning and Ethical Implications.” (75)
 Truog et al. “The Problem with Futility” (80)
 Case Study: Samuel Golubchuk (92)
Week 4: Sept 30-Oct 4: Research on Humans

 Freedman, “Equipoise and the Ethics of Clinical Research” (95)
 Miller and Brody, “A Critique of Clinical Equipoise: Therapeutic Misconception in the
Ethics of Clinical Trials.” (100)
Friday October 4: Case Analysis Due
Week 5: Oct 7-11 Research on Animals

 Cohen, “The Case for the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research.” (251)
 Regan, “The Rights of Humans and Other Animals.” (256)
 Sumner, “Animal Welfare and Animal Rights” (259)
Week 6: Oct 16-18

 Moral Distress
Friday October 18 – In-class midterm
Limits of Medicine?
Week 7: Oct 21-25 Conception and Embryos
 Sagan and Singer, “The Moral Status of Stem Cells” (3)
 Holm, “The Ethical Case against Stem Cell Research” (9)
 McLeod and Baylis, “Feminists on the Inalienability of Human Embryos” (14)
Week 8: Oct 28-Nov 1 Abortion

 Marquis, “Why Abortion is Immoral” (22)
 Sumner, “A Third Way” (26)
 Little, “Abortion, Intimacy, and the Duty to Gestate” (31)
Week 9: Nov 4-8 Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

 Schuklenk et al. “The Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel: End-of-Life Decision
Making” (146)
 Freedman, “The Rodriguez Case: Sticky Questions and Slippery Answers.” (151)
 Downie and Sherwin, “A Feminist Exploration of Issues around Assisted Death.” (156)
Week 10: Nov 11-15 Organs

 Spital and Taylor, “Routine Recovery of Cadaveric Organs for Transplantation:
Consistent, Fair, and Life-saving.” (181)
 Glannon, “Do the Sick Have a Right to Cadaveric Organs?” (185)
 Erin and Harris, “An Ethical Market in Human Organs” (189)
Week 11: Nov 18-22 Neuroenchancement

 Elliot, “Pursued by Happiness and Beaten Senseless: Prozac and the American Dream.”
(267)
 Kramer, “The Valorization of Sadness: Alienation and the Melancholic Temperment.”
(271)
 Glannon, “Psychopharmacological Enhancement.” (276)
Friday November 22: Essay Proposal Due
Allocation of Resources
Week 12: Nov 25-29 Public Health
 Childress et al. “Public Health Ethics: Mapping the Terrain” (232)
 Wilson, “Towards a Normative Framework for Public Health Ethics” (237)
 Thompson et al. “Pandemic Influenza Preparedness: An Ethical Framework to Guide
Decision-Making” (242)
Dec 2: Make up class.
Monday Dec 2: Final Essay Due

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PP217: Medical Ethics

Wilfrid Laurier Univeristy

Instructor: Dr. Melany Banks

Assignment Due Date % of Final Grade

Participation: Throughout the semester students will be asked to participate in a number of

Week 1: Sept 9-13: Introduction

Autonomy and Consent

Week 3: Sept 23-27: Futility

Week 4: Sept 30-Oct 4: Research on Humans

Friday October 4: Case Analysis Due

Week 5: Oct 7-11 Research on Animals

Week 6: Oct 16-18

Friday October 18 – In-class midterm

Week 8: Oct 28-Nov 1 Abortion

Week 9: Nov 4-8 Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Week 10: Nov 11-15 Organs

Week 11: Nov 18-22 Neuroenchancement

Friday November 22: Essay Proposal Due

Dec 2: Make up class.

Monday Dec 2: Final Essay Due

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