ETHICISTS DEBATE Should Doctors Refuse to Treat Unvaccinated People? A story appeared on August 17 in the Alabama News with the headline, “Alabama doctor says he won’t treat unvaccinated people: “COVID is a miserable way to die.” Tarris Rosell, DMin, PhD, Rosemary Flanigan Chair, sent a link to the article to colleagues on staff at the Center for Practical Bioethics, asking three questions: • Punishment or persuasion? • Patient abandonment or physician’s right? • Commendable or unethical? Erika Blacksher, PhD, John B. Francis Chair, responded to Dr. Rosell, which led to the following lightly ..read more

The COVID-19, once-in-a-century, pandemic has now exceeded a year in duration. Nerves are frayed and relationships are strained. This is evident within families, communities, healthcare systems, and institutions of government. Hope, in the form of declining cases and hospitalizations and a vaccine, is on the horizon and yet we are literally at our wits end. Now more than ever, we need to think carefully and not just emote. We need more dialogue and less monologue, civil discourse instead of incivility posted to social media. We need to take the time to deliberate and exhibit virtue rather than ..read more

I have been honored and privileged to serve the Kansas City region through my work at the Center for Practical Bioethics during this challenging year of COVID-19. My role has grown during this pandemic, as I share in the work of providing ethics services in several hospital systems in the region. This has involved front-end work, including structure and policy development, as well as groundwork such as conducting clinical ethics consults and supporting medical staff with ethics education and guidance. I am grateful to help our hospitals and health systems prepare for, manage and move forward i ..read more

By Tarris Rosell, PhD, DMin Rosemary Flanigan Chair at the Center for Practical Bioethics Professor of Pastoral Theology—Ethics & Ministry Praxis, Central Baptist Theological Seminary Clinical Professor, School of Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center Director, Hospital Ethics Consultation Service, The University of Kansas Health System I was raised on a farm up in Minnesota by Fundamentalist Depression-era parents. Among the many rules taught by words and deeds was that you don’t buy what you can’t afford. And never accrue debt. Save enough to buy a car when it’s needed, and then ..read more

Register by July 8 to Cast Your Vote on August 4 BallotOn Tuesday, August 4th, voters in Missouri will have the opportunity to vote on a ballot measure called Amendment 2, which amends the Missouri Constitution to “adopt Medicaid Expansion for persons 19 to 64 years old with an income level at or below 133% of the federal poverty level.” Your vote is critical. The referendum prohibits making eligibility requirements more strict for the expanded group than what the more limited group faces. It requires state agencies to maximize funding received from the federal government for expanding Medica ..read more

In the future, those of us who survive 2020 will use words like “scary,” and “uncontrollable” in describing this pandemic year. But right now, you can control one very important aspect of your life – the end of your life. I’m not being flippant. It’s true. Due to the pandemic, National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD), which is always the day after Tax Day, is doing a reboot or a second round – a 2.0. Since Tax Day was moved to July 15, NHDD is moving to July 16. NHDD has always used the “death and taxes” slogan to remind people to complete or review their advance care directive. On the Center ..read more

Q:  What happens to clinical ethics consultation in a pandemic? A:  Ethics consultation continues, only more so. During the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic, with a significantly lower overall inpatient census and fewer providers seeing outpatients, ethics consultation at the University of Kansas Health System (UKHS) increased rather than decreased. Not all of the increase is COVID related. Most consultations reflect issues that arise during normal times as well. Typical Issues, New Perspectives Some consultation has been COVID specific, including participation on the ..read more

Deciding How You Want to Live in the Time of COVID19 People don’t like to talk about politics, religion or money. To that we would add advance care planning. And to that we would add there’s been no time in recent memory when it was more important to name someone to speak for you if you can’t speak for yourself…which is what happens when you’re on a ventilator! Advance care planning is the process of clarifying your life goals and values and making sure your healthcare preferences are known and honored. Most Americans today will die from complications of chronic illness, with slow and uncer ..read more

Jama’s mom had been living in a long-term acute care facility on dialysis and a ventilator for nearly five months. Dad was by her side 24/7. “One day, as my sister and I were walking out, I looked at her and said, ‘I think mom is dying,’” said Jama. “We started crying. Of course mom was dying, but no one had told us…or Mom.” Call the Center Jama and her siblings began insisting that the doctors at least be honest with their dad about Mom’s failing condition. Dad thought he had to seek heroic efforts because of religious beliefs. All along Mom thought she was going to get well enough to go h ..read more

Sandra Stites, MD Board Chair, Center for Practical Bioethics My first exposure to the Center for Practical Bioethics was as a guest at the Annual Dinner event with my husband, who is a physician at the University of Kansas. But it was my experience as an OB/GYN physician that really sparked my desire to get more involved.  In my practice as an OB/GYN, and especially in OB, ethics comes into play from day one throughout pregnancy. I can remember one of my first patients decades ago, a senior at a local high school, who wasn’t allowed to graduate because she was pregnant.  ..read more