R373 Religion, Ethics, and Medicine (3 cr) TR 1:00-2:15 WH111
(Mongoven)

How should we understand pain and suffering, not only physiologically
but existentially? What are appropriate medical responses to
suffering?  These broad questions frame our investigation of
religious-particularly Jewish and Christian-and secular traditions of
medical ethics.
In addition to ethical texts, we will draw extensively upon case
studies and contemporary policy debates to address specific questions
such as: Is there a difference between killing and letting die? Should
physician-assisted suicide be legalized? Should health care
professionals always tell the whole truth to patients? To their
families? To insurers?  Should a health care professional always
maintain patient confidentiality, even if that might put others at
risk? What should be the role of health care professionals regarding
new reproductive technologies, or  regarding burgeoning genetic
information that allows us to predict diseases we still can not treat?
Who is the primary locus of concern for a health care professional:
the patient; the patient in his or her family; the community? How
should we allocate health care resources, both among the populace and
among different priorities within medicine?