No Easy Answers in Bioethics

According to recent data from Donate Life America, more than 110,000 people are waiting for lifesaving organ transplants; 80% of those patients are waiting for a kidney. In this episode, Center Acting Director and Professor Dr. Leonard Fleck is joined by Dr. Arthur Ward of Michigan State University’s Lyman Briggs College. Dr.

What are the ethical implications of gene-editing human embryos? Do we risk stifling scientific advancement by banning such medical research? Guests Dr. Leonard Fleck, Acting Director and Professor in the Center for Ethics, and Dr. Marleen Eijkholt of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands discuss the pros and cons, stemming from the recent news out of China of gene-edited babies.

How do patients, their families, or their caregivers express hope for a miracle in the clinical setting? How can medical professionals respond to these desires for a miracle to occur? Guests Dr.

What does it mean to declare brain death in the clinical setting? How does the language we use surrounding death complicate these situations? What beliefs and philosophies exist regarding what constitutes the death of a person?

Would you ever consent to have your medical procedure broadcast on social media? This episode addresses a trend known as Snapchat surgeons – plastic surgeons who amass sometimes millions of followers on the social media platform Snapchat by posting uncensored videos of operations they are performing. These videos are often highly stylized, comedic, and meant to entertain.

No Easy Answers in Bioethics is a new podcast from the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Each month Center for Ethics faculty and their collaborators discuss their ongoing work and research across many areas of bioethics--clinical ethics, evidence-based medicine, health policy, medical education, neuroethics, shared decision-making, and more.