•  59
    The Principle of Double Effect in End-of-Life Care
    The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 15 (3): 515-529. 2015.
    In Catholic moral theology, the principle of double effect has been an effective normative tool for centuries, and it can be used to determine the ethicality of actions that contain both good and evil consequences. The principle of double effect is especially useful in end-of-life care, because many end-of-life treatment options inherently have both good and evil conse­quences. The principle of double effect can be used to make both practical and moral distinctions between the acts of euthanasia…Read more
  •  55
    In the debate surrounding the morality and legality of the practices of physician-assisted death and euthanasia, a common logical argument regularly employed against these practices is the “slippery slope argument.” One formulation of this argument claims that acceptance of physician-assisted death will eventually lead down a “slippery slope” into acceptance of active euthanasia, including its voluntary, non-voluntary, and/or involuntary forms, through psychological and social processes that war…Read more
  •  16
    Imminent Death Donation: Ethical and Practical Policy Considerations
    Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 46 (2): 524-537. 2018.
    While the practice of organ donation after cardiac death has long been trending upwards in acceptance and use, it is still a highly controversial and practically inefficient method of organ procurement. One policy that has recently been proposed to try and alleviate some of the ethical and practical concerns with organ donation after cardiac death is the practice of imminent death organ donation. This type of live organ donation comes in patients at the end of their life who have decided to with…Read more
  •  13
    The utility of a bioethics doctorate: results of a survey of graduates and students having completed All-but-Dissertation Requirements (ABD) from US bioethics doctoral programs
    with Daniel J. Hurst, Ariel Clatty, and Joris Gielen
    International Journal of Ethics Education 7 (1): 21-34. 2021.
    In the United States, the field of bioethics has expanded over the last two decades. Several institutions offer graduate-level training at both the masters and doctoral level. However, a lack of published literature on the outcomes of doctoral training in bioethics from the perspective of graduates exists. Researchers conducted an online survey of doctoral students who had finished all doctoral requirements but their dissertation, as well as doctoral graduates, of four US-based institutions to a…Read more
  •  11
    The Utility of a Bioethics Doctorate: Graduates’ Perspectives
    with Daniel Hurst, Christine Trani, Ariel Clatty, and Sarah Stockey
    Journal of Medical Humanities 40 (4): 473-487. 2019.
    Each year, many young professionals forego advanced education in the traditional doctoral programs of medicine, law, and philosophy in favor of pursuing a PhD or professional doctorate in bioethics or healthcare ethics that is offered by several major institutes of higher education across the United States. These graduates often leverage their degrees into careers within the broader field of bioethics. As such, they represent a growing percentage of professional bioethicists in both academia and…Read more
  •  10
    Reimagining Thriving Ethics Programs without Ethics Committees
    with Hilary Mabel, Joshua S. Crites, and Thomas V. Cunningham
    American Journal of Bioethics 1-16. forthcoming.
    With the increasing professionalization of clinical ethics, some hospitals and health systems utilize both ethics committees and professional clinical ethicists to address their ethics needs. Drawing upon historical critiques of ethics committees and their own experiences, the authors argue that, in ethics programs with one or more professional clinical ethicists, ethics committees should be dissolved when they fail to meet minimum standards of effectiveness. The authors outline several criteria…Read more
  •  8
    To Procure or Not to Procure: Hospitals Face Significant Ethical Dilemmas Regarding Organ Donation During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    with Jessica Ginsberg, Jason Lesandrini, and Amy Andrelchik
    American Journal of Bioethics 20 (7): 193-195. 2020.
    Volume 20, Issue 7, July 2020, Page 193-195.
  •  7
    Requiring Consent for Brain-Death Testing: A Perilous Proposal
    with Joseph Bertino
    American Journal of Bioethics 20 (6): 28-30. 2020.
    Volume 20, Issue 6, June 2020, Page 28-30.
  •  7
    Barriers to Patient Involvement in Decision-Making in Advanced Cancer Care: Culture as an Amplifier
    with Daniel J. Hurst, Persis Naumann, Jasia A. Baig, Manjulata Evatt, Joan Such Lockhart, and Joris Gielen
    Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics 12 (1): 77-92. 2022.
  •  7
    This paper is a clinical ethics case study which sheds light on several important dilemmas which arise in providing care to patients from cultures with non-individualistic conceptions of autonomy. Medical professionals face a difficult challenge in determining how to respond when families of patients ask that patients not be informed of bad medical news. These requests are often made for cultural reasons, by families seeking to protect patients. In these cases, the right that patients have to th…Read more
  •  5
    Barriers to Patient Involvement in Decision-Making in Advanced Cancer Care: Culture as an Amplifier
    with Daniel Hurst, Persis Naumann, Jasia Baig, Manjulata Evatt, Joan Lockhart, and Joris Gielen
    Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics. forthcoming.
  •  4
    Demonstrating Value Through Tracking Ethics Program Activities Beyond Ethics Consultations
    with Steven Shields, Jeff S. Matsler, and Susannah W. Lee
    Journal of Clinical Ethics 31 (3): 259-267. 2020.
    Demonstrating value is an ongoing process and requirement for institutional survival for ethics programs. Although our ethics program has significantly increased our ethics consultation volume and maintains a robust database that tracks ethics consultation data, these data regarding ethics consultations alone do not accurately represent the program’s overall activities and value to the institution. The roles and responsibilities of clinical ethicists extend beyond clinical ethics consultation, a…Read more
  •  4
    Volume 20, Issue 2, February 2020, Page 62-64.
  •  2
    Propelling Clinical Ethics Forward: Insights from the 2022 Unconference
    with Hilary Mabel
    Journal of Clinical Ethics 33 (4): 269-276. 2022.
    Propelling Clinical Ethics Forward: A Working Unconference was held from 28-29 April 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. The event, the third installment in an ongoing series of Clinical Ethics Unconferences, brought together 77 individuals from 40 institutions to exchange innovative practices and collaborate to address issues facing the field of clinical ethics. In this article the authors highlight the five major themes that emerged from the 2022 Unconference, including: (1) tackling new and old problem…Read more
  •  1
    Letter to the Editor
    Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 48 (1): 232-232. 2020.