Category / Case Studies / Medical Ethics and Policy Guidance
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Case Study: Undocumented Patient Relies on Hospital ED
Bioethics case study on undocumented patients denied care. Mr. Ramirez is a 44-year-old male with multiple medical conditions, including cirrhosis of the liver and acute kidney failure. He has expressed that outpatient dialysis would indeed be his preference, but due to his undocumented status, accessing it is not an option.
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Case Study: COPD Patient Rejects Science on Smoking
Bioethics case study on patients rejecting science. Bonnie, the patient, stated that she does not believe smoking causes health problems, noting that her father was a lifelong smoker who smoked until the day he died at the age of 94, without any apparent smoking-related illnesses. The medical team is uncertain how to proceed with treatment, and an ethics consult has been requested. Center for Practical Bioethics
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Bioethics Case Study – When Facilities Refuse Admission
Bioethics case study on when facilities refuse admission, hospitals are the last resort in VIDEO and PRINT. Hospitals must jump through hoops to find facilities that can meet patient mental health needs. Without a deliberate effort to provide for such patients, they will continue to remain abandoned by society and left to places of last resort, typically the hospital. Published by the Center for Practical Bioethics.
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![A graphic stating the Ethics Dispatch is like an ethics committee meeting in a box. With four topic sections: monthly hot topic, new clinical ethics case study, current bioethics news stories and ethical musing essay.]()
Ethics Dispatch November 2025 Beneficence
The November 2025 Ethics Dispatch discusses beneficence in the season of caring . What does it mean to actively do good? 150,000 people with serious mental illness live in nursing homes, often longer than their medical needs require because the broader system has no place for them to go. In the case study we learn about a patient ready for discharge, but no facilities will take him. Then we discuss the shortcomings of EMTALA and how they demonstrate the need to rediscover the theory of medicine so that its practice meets patients’ needs. The Center for Practical Bioethics.
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Case Study: Patient Discharge Issues
Bioethics case study on patient discharge issues. Mr. Stone has a history of combative or noncompliant behavior before hospitalization. Since hospitalized, Mr. Stone has regularly taken his medications and cooperated with staff. But the staff is having difficulty discharging him due to his previous behavior.
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Bioethics Case Study – What Does It Mean to be a Bioethics Expert?
Bioethics case study on bioethics expertise in VIDEO and PRINT. What Does It Mean to Be an Expert? Perception, Reality and Practical Implications When does someone’s expertise become beneficial to others? As professional ethicist do we understand morality more than others, and if so, what is my role to others as an expert? The case illustrates how bioethics expertise enabled a son to feel understood and supported in allowing his mother to pass. Published by the Center for Practical Bioethics.
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![A graphic stating the Ethics Dispatch is like an ethics committee meeting in a box. With four topic sections: monthly hot topic, new clinical ethics case study, current bioethics news stories and ethical musing essay.]()
Ethics Dispatch October 2025
The October 2025 Ethics Dispatch highlights how misinformation, political interference, and profit-driven publishing threaten the integrity of science and public trust in healthcare. Defending evidence and fairness is a moral duty rooted in bioethics’ principle of justice. The Center for Practical Bioethics calls for renewed commitment to truth, transparency, and ethical integrity in research and public discourse.
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![A graphic stating the Ethics Dispatch is like an ethics committee meeting in a box. With four topic sections: monthly hot topic, new clinical ethics case study, current bioethics news stories and ethical musing essay.]()
Ethics Dispatch September 2025
In this Ethics Dispatch, the Center for Practical Bioethics discusses the decision to scapegoat immigrants and strip away healthcare access is a cautionary tale about how easily ethics can be subverted by politics. It shows us how fear can be weaponized to dismantle justice, and how health policy can be turned into a tool of harm.
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Bioethics Case Study – Justice for Undocumented Patients
Bioethics case study on undocumented patients in VIDEO and PRINT. This case study in clinical ethics discusses ‘When What Is Right ≠ What Is Best’ regarding justice for undocumented patients. Published by the Center for Practical Bioethics.
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![A list of the sections in the Ethics Dispatch.]()
Ethics Dispatch August 2025
Nurses and frontline staff bear the brunt of a growing wave of hostility, facing risks that extend far beyond the usual emotional toll of caregiving. In this Ethics Dispatch, the Center for Practical Bioethics analyzes competing values that govern providers’ response to violence, as well as institutional responsibilities and Ryan shares a personal story about his response to an aggressive family member.
