Drake College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

This course examines ethical, legal, and social issues that arise in modern health care and health sciences contexts. The purpose of this course is to provide you with an ethical framework through which to analyze not only current but also future, yet-unknown ethical issues that affect the provision of health care on a daily basis. Areas of study will include: the treatment relationship; health care access; diversity issues; the allocation of health care resources; historical and contemporary efforts to reform the health care system; informed consent; human subjects research; stem cell research; animal research; body ownership as a legal and ethical concept; organ and tissue donation, procurement, and transplantation; confidentiality and privacy; genetics and genetic testing; end of life care and decision making, including advanced directive and withholding/withdrawing life-sustaining treatment; reproduction, including abortion and assisted reproductive technologies; pharmacy, drug, and device issues; psychiatry and neuroscience; and issues of bioethics in society, in particular bioethics and culture/religion.