One of the most difficult challenges in the field of bioethics is balancing the needs of individual patients against the welfare of society.
In Part II of a two-part lesson series, we ask students to do just that: to balance the interests of patients against each other and in relation to the broader population. Using resources in The Times, we have students consider complex questions, like:
• How should scarce health care resources, such as livers for transplant, be allocated?
• Should organ donors be paid?
• What limits, if any, should be placed on the field of human “genetic engineering”?
• Should lithium be added to the drinking water supply if it can be proved to lower suicide rates in the larger population?
To help students address these questions, we introduced them to guiding principles in bioethics in Part I of this teaching resource. In the suggested activities below, we ask students to take on the role of bioethicist, and apply these principles as they consider one or more of the suggested topics.
For each, we provide related reading, as well as questions for debate, writing or additional inquiry. At the end of this lesson we suggest 14 bioethics topics for further student research.
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