Exploring Bioethics - NIH Office of Science Education - National ...

new medication, she is able to stay awake easily for more than 24 hours and isnot experiencing any serious negative side effects. “It’s better than coffee,” shetells her friends, “but it is a lot more expensive.”1See Teacher Support MaterialsMore information about this case and additionalenhancement cases—myostatin, erythropoietin (EPO), growthhormone, and beta-blockers—is available online at http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/bioethics/teacher.10. Write the following ethical question on the board or atransparency: Should Lisa give her friends her medication?11. Give students two to three minutes to discuss the ethical questionwith a partner.12. Ask three to five student volunteers to share some of theirinitial reactions to the case with the class, as well as theirreasons why they think Lisa should or should not give herfriends her medication.13. Record students’ thoughts under the heading “Reasons” on theboard or a transparency.14. Focus students’ attention on the importance of providing reasonsin bioethics. Tell them that ethics involves finding and givingreasons for positions.Ethics helps people decide what to do in difficult cases; it focuses onanalyzing situations and providing reasons for choices. People oftenhave difficulty giving reasons, especially if strong feelings are involved.Simply stating “because it’s just wrong” or “I think it’s OK and that’s justwhat I believe” is not enough.15. Ask students why they think ethics is important.Thoughtful people will disagree, so they need to find ways ofdiscussing conflicting ideas to arrive at the best answer.16. Emphasize that ethics helps people discuss issues that need to bedecided by individuals as well as members of communities.For example, Lisa needs to decide whether she should give her friendsher medication, and her friends need to decide whether they shouldtake it. There are ethical questions at the societal level, too, though, suchas whether that type of medication should be made widely available,whether policies to regulate and restrict its use should be put in place,or whether people who take the medication without a prescription shouldbe penalized.Tip from the FieldStudents may express a range ofethical views, which can provide anopportunity to emphasize theimportance of civilly discussingcontroversial topics.2345Module 1 1-96