Bioethics & Law

SLN #: 26441
Course Prefix: LAW-652
Course Section: 001
Credit Hours: 2
Instructor(s): Fuse Brown
Course Books: View List of Books

Course Description:
This course, Bioethics and Law, explores the development of American law as it relates to ethical and moral issues in the areas of health care and life sciences. Supplementing courses in health law and public health law, and law and biosciences, this course is intended to give students an appreciation of the ways in which the law’s regulatory powers have been used to guide decision-making in medicine and biomedical research, and, in turn, how theories of medical ethics and practice have informed modern legal developments.

In Bioethics and Law, we will take up a range of issues including (but not limited to): end of life decisions, allocation of resources such as organs for transplantation, human reproduction, human subjects research, and developments in genetics and stem cell research and therapies.

Although the course is offered for 2 credits, the course will meet twice a week for 85 minutes (Mon., Wed. from 1:30-2:55). Please Note: the course will conclude early with the last class scheduled for Monday, March 12. The take-home exam will be scheduled the week of March 26. Enrollment is unlimited.

Bioethics raises difficult questions about the nature, meaning, and value of life and the importance and appropriate ethical and legal role of health care. Many of the difficult, sometimes wrenching problems we explore in the course are ones which we encounter in our personal lives and in our roles as citizens. I hope our study of the materials will develop and challenge our thinking about these issues.

The text for the Course is Furrow, Greaney, Johnson, Jost and Schwartz' Bioethics: Health Care Law and Ethics (6th ed.). Note: Students who took LAW 650: Health Law & Policy with Prof. Fuse Brown or Prof. Hodge will not need to purchase a new book. The book that was used in LAW 650(Health Law: Cases, Materials and Problems, by the same authors) may also be used for this class.

Additional Information:
Credit Hours: 2
Grading Option: Letter Grade Only
Written Assignment: Probably not
Graduation Writing Requirement: No
Flexible/Upper-Level Writing Requirement: No
Skills Requirement: No
Simulation Course: No
Experiential Learning: No
Seminar: No
Prerequisite: None
Special Withdrawal Course: No
Limited Enrollment Number: No
Final Exam Given: Yes, the week of March 26
Final Exam Type: Take-Home
Mid Term Or Other Exam: No
Paper Or In-Class Presentation: No paper; perhaps some student presentations
Participation Points: Class participation counts for a portion of the final grade
Attendance Policy: Per Statement Of Student Policies
Additional Attendance Policy: Attendance is mandatory

* The law school has a policy that is used to calculate credit hours. Please see the Statement of Student Policies.