Center for Practical Bioethics

08/27/2026

Bioethics Case Study on Vaccinating Children
A five-year old child and parents visit the pediatrician whereas the parents have a heated exchange about the effectiveness and efficacy of a vaccine, but especially so about its safety. What should the pediatrician do?

https://www.practicalbioethics.org/resources/case-studies/case-study-vaccinating-children/

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Bioethics case study on vaccinating children.

08/25/2026

Your Donations Make Healthcare Ethics Possible!
The Center earned a 2026 Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency -- the highest level! See what your donations help us accomplish. Use this link for unlimited access to our profile. Keeping our profile up to date helps enable funders and donors to find us and learn about our impact.

https://app.candid.org/profile/7709475/center-for-practical-bioethics-48-0985815?pkId=ff7a87bf-2fea-4f30-b99f-b37bfcfbd757&isActive=true

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08/20/2026

PLEASE JOIN US for Breakfast of Champions 🏆 🏆 🏆

Thursday, September 17, 2026
7:30 am to 9:30 am
Sporting Park, Kansas City, KS

HONORING ETHICS CHAMPION OF THE YEAR
Namir Khandker, MD
Neurosciences Critical Care
Ochsner Medical Center – New Orleans

Sponsorships Available
Come as our Guest, Individual Tickets -- No Charge

Learn more and registration: https://www.practicalbioethics.org/events/2026-breakfast-of-champions/

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The Breakfast of Champions, the Center's annual fundraiser, is Thursday, September 17, 2026 from 7:30-9:30 am at Sporting Park, home of the Sporting KC soccer team in Kansas City. The Center for Practical Bioethics

08/18/2026

The Elevator Speech: How to Talk about the Center – With Confidence

We’ve been around for more than 40 years, but it’s still a struggle to communicate what we do to the diverse audiences we serve. Digital Marketing and Technology Integration Manager Monica Delles describes recent efforts to explain the Center’s work to different audiences and how you can help.

https://www.practicalbioethics.org/whats-new/the-elevator-speech-how-to-talk-about-the-center-for-practical-bioethics/

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08/13/2026

Ask a Bioethicist: One clinical ethics case study. Three bioethicists analyze.
The July Ethics Dispatch Special Edition

We presented the case study to three bioethicists and invited them to respond independently. Their responses were submitted anonymously and are summarized below.

The purpose of this exercise is not to identify a single “correct” answer. Rather, it is to demonstrate how thoughtful ethical analysis can lead reasonable people to emphasize different concerns, weigh competing values differently, and arrive at different conclusions.

https://www.practicalbioethics.org/blog/ask-a-bioethicist-one-case-three-bioethicists-analyze/

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Ask a Bioethicist: One case, three bioethicists analyze. The clinical ethics case: a Jehovah's Witness patient's blood transfusion refusal versus her family's consent. Read how autonomy and beneficence collide. The July 2026 Ethics Dispatch is the first quarterly special edition called Ask a Bioethi...

08/11/2026

The July Bioethics Bulletin newsletter explores:

📖 Ask a Bioethicist, a new Center bioethics resource, analyzing a healthcare ethics case of a Jehovah’s Witness refusing blood transfusion during emergency surgery, illustrating diverse ethical perspectives.

https://www.practicalbioethics.org/in-the-news/july-2026-bioethics-bulletin-e-newsletter/

🔗 Subscribe to stay at the forefront of medical ethics: https://www.practicalbioethics.org/subscribe-to-our-newsletter/

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The July 2026 monthly newsletter highlights a new bioethics resource, Ask a Bioethicist, analyzing a healthcare ethics case of a Jehovah’s Witness refusing blood transfusion during emergency surgery, illustrating diverse ethical perspectives. The Center for Practical Bioethics.

07/31/2026

Bioethics Case Study:
Dying Patient Receiving Pain Medication OR Donate Organs?

Should we allow the patient to have a peaceful passing, but not allow them to donate organs which the patient had expressly stated they wanted to do?

Read the case or watch the video: https://www.practicalbioethics.org/resources/case-studies/case-study-should-a-dying-patient-receive-pain-medications-or-donate-organs/

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Bioethics case study on a dying patient receiving pain medication OR donate organs in VIDEO and PRINT. Should we allow the patient to have a peaceful passing, but not allow them to donate organs which the patient had expressly stated they wanted to do?

07/28/2026

Biosafety v. Animal Rights
CPB Weighs In from Ethics Perspective

The Center was asked by the Mountain Journal to weigh in from an ethical perspective on a controversy involving Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton, MT. The controversy pits animal rights groups against RML, a Biosafety Level 4 facility that handles dangerous pathogens and is part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Tensions were heightened earlier this month when the U.S. Department of Justice charged two RML researchers with smuggling monkeypox virus samples into the U.S. and lying to investigators.

Asked to comment, Ryan Pferdehirt said that while the rights of animals are an ongoing and serious debate, their unresolved status makes it unlikely that they will outweigh more established principles.

“If I had an Ebola outbreak and animal research questions, I’m focusing on the Ebola outbreak,” he said. “The benefits of a research institution continuing to exist are likely to outweigh the harms that would come if the institution went away. “

https://mountainjournal.org/rml-researchers-arrested-for-smugglimng-monkeypox-virus-as-lab-critics-campaign-against-animal-testing/

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Defenders of the Hamilton biosafety lab see campaign as an attack on science while others accuse it of malfeasance

07/22/2026

LAST CHANCE! REGISTER FOR Screening Bioethics episode 2! 🎥

Depictions of Death and Dying Decisions
Thursday, July 23 at 6:00 PM CST
Free Event

Autonomous decision-making at the end of life is recognized as an important goal in bioethics. How do characters in popular culture reflect this when confronted with their own death?

In this second episode of the webinar series, Screening Bioethics, hosts Nanette Elster, JD, MPH, and Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD, HEC-C examine and discuss ethical issues at the end of life in three recent shows on television — Hacks, Dying for S*x, and The Pitt.

This 45-minute exploration will be followed by a 15-minute Q & A.

Register to receive webinar link: https://www.practicalbioethics.org/events/screening-bioethics-episode-2/

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Screening Bioethics is a webinar series exploring bioethics topics in popular media with hosts Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD, and Nanette Elster, JD, MPH. In the second episode they will examine and discuss ethical issues at the end of life in three recent shows on television. This 45-minute exploration wil...