Bioethics day index
Find an earlier dilemma, revisit the evidence, or prepare for the next debate. This list comes directly from the dated course calendar, so each link opens the lesson students actually see.
The bulletin board posts answers from the preparation assignments without names. Mr. Mendoza picks and posts them by hand, and a student who does not want theirs posted only has to say so.
The debate schedule, all eleven weeks
A John Carroll facilitator runs the debate in Room 381 for the first 40 minutes of the block, and the rest of the period is PLTW work for your unit. Find your period in the column headings: your debate day is in that column. The preparation assignment goes out the Friday the week before and is the graded piece either way.
| Wk | Case | Prep goes out | Period 6A-7B | Periods 1-2 & 3-4B | Who is running it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Should ELISA testing be mandatory? | Fri, Sep 18 | Mon, Sep 21 | Thu, Sep 24 | To be named |
| 2 | Should we ban antibiotic use in livestock? | Fri, Sep 25 | Fri, Oct 2 · Cancelled for the pep rally; argued in class | Thu, Oct 1 | To be named |
| 3 | Should we limit antibiotic prescriptions? | Fri, Oct 2 | Fri, Oct 9 · No school | Thu, Oct 8 · John Carroll on break | To be named |
| 4 | Euthanasia to reduce antibiotic use | Thu, Oct 8(moved) | Fri, Oct 16 | Thu, Oct 15 | To be named |
| 5 | Is super hearing good for humanity? | Fri, Oct 16 | Fri, Oct 23 | Thu, Oct 22 | To be named |
| 6 | Cochlear implants before the age of consent | Fri, Oct 23 | Fri, Oct 30 | Thu, Oct 29 | To be named |
| 7 | Two videos: controlling genetics, and what gives life meaning | Fri, Oct 30 | Fri, Nov 6 | Thu, Nov 5 | To be named |
| 8 | Should vaccination be mandatory? | Fri, Nov 6 | Fri, Nov 13 | Thu, Nov 12 | To be named |
| 9 | Prosecuting health misinformation | Fri, Nov 13 | Fri, Nov 20 | Thu, Nov 19 | To be named |
| 10 | Should vaping be labeled unhealthy? | Fri, Nov 20 | Fri, Nov 27 · No school | Thu, Nov 26 · No school | To be named |
| 11 | Genetic Defect Prevention and the Vargo request | Tue, Nov 24(moved) | Fri, Dec 4 | Thu, Dec 3 | To be named |
Your side is assigned before the debate and sent to you through Jupiter, so you know which case you are defending while you prepare. Build your own case in depth, and work out the other side's strongest argument too, because you will have to answer it in the room.
Any student may take this route, for any reason, and you do not have to give one. Tell Mr. Mendoza before the session starts. Deciding on the day is fine. Instead you write a one-page report in APA format that summarizes the issues in the case, plus a second page of citations. The report earns the same credit as taking part in the debate. It is a different route, not a lesser one.
The John Carroll team is named week by week once their roster is set, which Dr. Kaye expects in early September 2026. Their own first day is Aug 27, so "to be named" above means not yet decided, not unknown to us. Shaded rows are weeks a section does not meet. On those weeks the preparation assignment is still the graded piece. Two prep releases moved off a closed Friday: Week 4 goes out Thursday Oct 8, Week 11 goes out Tuesday Nov 24. Curriculum questions go to Dr. Sharon Kaye, John Carroll University.
The spring debate schedule, a draft
These eleven cases and eleven dates are a draft that Mr. Mendoza wrote so the spring semester could be planned. They have not been agreed with Dr. Sharon Kaye, John Carroll University, and the cases are not John Carroll's material the way the fall ones are. Expect the topics and the dates to change. What will not change is the shape: a facilitated debate for the first 40 minutes of the block, a preparation assignment that is the graded piece, and the same opt-out route as the fall.
| Wk | Draft case | Prep goes out | Human Body Systems | Biomedical Innovation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Should medical students learn anatomy on donated human bodies? | Fri, Jan 29 | Mon, Feb 1 | Mon, Feb 1 |
| 2 | Should police be able to search consumer DNA databases? | Fri, Feb 5 | Mon, Feb 8 | Mon, Feb 8 |
| 3 | Should genetic enhancement of muscle be banned in sport? | Fri, Feb 19 | Mon, Feb 22 | Mon, Feb 22 |
| 4 | Should a brain scan be allowed as evidence in a criminal trial? | Fri, Feb 26 | Mon, Mar 1 | Mon, Mar 1 |
| 5 | Should tackle football be allowed before high school? | Fri, Mar 5 | Mon, Mar 8 | Mon, Mar 8 |
| 6 | Should lifestyle affect who receives a donor organ? | Fri, Mar 12 | Mon, Mar 15 | Mon, Mar 15 |
| 7 | Who should pay for a treatment that costs more than a house? | Fri, Mar 19 | Mon, Mar 22 | Mon, Mar 22 |
| 8 | Should insurance cover a prosthetic that does more than restore function? | Thu, Mar 25(moved) | Mon, Apr 5 | Mon, Apr 5 |
| 9 | Is a placebo group fair when a treatment already exists? | Fri, Apr 9 | Mon, Apr 12 | Mon, Apr 12 |
| 10 | Should hospitals be allowed to sell de-identified patient data? | Fri, Apr 23 | Mon, Apr 26 | Mon, Apr 26 |
| 11 | Who owns a medical device invented by a student? | Fri, Apr 30 | Mon, May 3 | Mon, May 3 |
Shaded rows are weeks one class does not meet, because the two courses do not share every Monday in the spring. As drafted that gives Human Body Systems 11 sessions and Biomedical Innovation 11. Week 6's preparation goes out eleven days early, on the last school day before spring break, so put it somewhere you will find it again. Questions about the program go to Dr. Sharon Kaye, John Carroll University.
Principles of Biomedical Technology (Principles of Biomedical Science)
Bioethics of evidence
When should we trust scientific evidence, and who is responsible when it is wrong?
Open this dayEthics of the scene
How can you show what a source says without adding a conclusion it cannot support?
Open this dayEthics of testing
What can we responsibly report when a screen is only an initial indication?
Open this dayEthics of autopsy
When the family says no and the examiner says the manner is in doubt, what should the review board order, and what would make you change your mind?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 1: Should ELISA testing be mandatory?
JCU bioethics 1: Should ELISA testing be mandatory?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 2: Should we ban antibiotic use in livestock?
Should we ban antibiotic use in livestock?
Open this dayEthics of conclusions
How much evidence is enough before you are allowed to name a cause of death?
Open this dayEthics of privacy
When, if ever, should a single patient's privacy give way to the safety of the whole community?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 4: Euthanasia to reduce antibiotic use
Should terminally ill patients be offered medical aid in dying in order to decrease antibiotic use?
Open this dayEthics of monitoring
When does collecting more health data actually make a patient healthier, and when does it just make them worried?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 5: Is super hearing good for humanity?
Is super hearing, as offered by the Clarity Implant, a net positive for humanity?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 6: Cochlear implants before the age of consent
Should children reach the age of consent before cochlear implants or other medical interventions are allowed?
Open this dayGenetic testing ethics debate
Who has the right to decide what a family learns about its own genes, and what duties come with that knowledge?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 7: Two videos: controlling genetics, and what gives life meaning
Can humans be trusted with control over genetics? And: extinction, or life without culture?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 8: Should vaccination be mandatory?
Should vaccination be mandatory?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 9: Prosecuting health misinformation
Should the government prosecute people for lying about vaccines or other health matters?
Open this dayTriage ethics debate
When there is not enough help to save everyone, who decides who gets it first, and what makes that decision fair?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 11: Genetic Defect Prevention and the Vargo request
Is it ethical to grant the Vargo family their request?
Open this daySurge resource debate
How can we defend a fair allocation decision when resources and information are limited?
Open this dayBioprospecting ethics debate
How should evidence from Bioprospecting ethics debate change the next biomedical decision, and where must the claim stop?
Open this dayGenetics of Disease (Medical Interventions)
Bioethics debate: isolation vs autonomy
When does a community's right to be safe outweigh a single person's right to move freely?
Open this dayBioethics debate: who gets the test
How can an allocation rule be defended when people value fairness differently?
Open this dayBioethics debate: false results
When a screen can be wrong in two opposite directions, what must be true before a clinic uses it?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 1: Should ELISA testing be mandatory?
JCU bioethics 1: Should ELISA testing be mandatory?
Open this dayBioethics debate: antibiotic stewardship
When the bacteria around us become harder to kill every time we use a drug, who is responsible for using less?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 2: Should we ban antibiotic use in livestock?
Should we ban antibiotic use in livestock?
Open this dayCochlear implant debate
When medicine can change a body, who gets to decide whether that body was broken in the first place?
Open this dayGenetic privacy debate
Who owns the information written in your DNA, and who has the right to read it?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 4: Euthanasia to reduce antibiotic use
Should terminally ill patients be offered medical aid in dying in order to decrease antibiotic use?
Open this dayAccess-to-results debate
Who should get to hold and interpret a person's genetic data, and why does that choice matter?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 5: Is super hearing good for humanity?
Is super hearing, as offered by the Clarity Implant, a net positive for humanity?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 6: Cochlear implants before the age of consent
Should children reach the age of consent before cochlear implants or other medical interventions are allowed?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 7: Two videos: controlling genetics, and what gives life meaning
Can humans be trusted with control over genetics? And: extinction, or life without culture?
Open this dayScreening equity debate
When a genetic test can save a life, who actually gets to take it, and does that make the test itself unjust?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 8: Should vaccination be mandatory?
Should vaccination be mandatory?
Open this dayTrial-access debate
When a treatment is unproven, who gets to decide whether a dying patient can try it?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 9: Prosecuting health misinformation
Should the government prosecute people for lying about vaccines or other health matters?
Open this dayOrgan-allocation debate
When there are not enough organs, what makes one patient a more defensible choice than another?
Open this dayJCU bioethics 11: Genetic Defect Prevention and the Vargo request
Is it ethical to grant the Vargo family their request?
Open this dayEngineered-protein debate
When a technology can save a life, who gets to decide what it costs and who is allowed to have it?
Open this dayAllocation debate
How should evidence from Allocation debate change the next biomedical decision, and where must the claim stop?
Open this dayEmerging-tech debate
How should evidence from Emerging-tech debate change the next biomedical decision, and where must the claim stop?
Open this dayHuman Anatomy & Physiology (Human Body Systems)
Wk2 CER: Bioethics: who owns a body?
Under what conditions would you support a teaching program using donated bodies?
Open this dayWk3 CER: Bioethics: imaging and privacy
When should a hospital ask again before using patient images for teaching?
Open this dayWk4 CER: Bioethics: bone donation and 3D parts
When suitable bone-graft material is scarce, should ability to pay affect priority?
Open this dayWk5 CER: Bioethics: performance enhancement
Should competitive sport permit nonmedical muscle enhancement when health risk and pressure on rivals may conflict with individual choice?
Open this dayWk6 CER: Bioethics: wearable data privacy
Should an employer access named wearable records when proposed safety value and privacy risks remain uncertain?
Open this dayWk7 CER: Bioethics: access to rehab
Should the fictional plan cap covered rehabilitation visits, and what would make its rule fair?
Open this dayWk8 CER: Bioethics: brain data and consent
Should the fictional school use brain data to predict future behavior, and under what consent and fairness conditions?
Open this dayWk9 CER: Bioethics: drugs and driving
Should documented impairment from legal medication bring the same driving rules as impairment from alcohol, and which fairness conditions matter?
Open this dayWk10 Exit ticket: Hormone therapy bioethics debate
Who should decide a minor's hormone treatment, and what evidence and tradeoff should guide that decision?
Open this dayWk12 Exit ticket: Animal research ethics debate
What could justify using a simpler living model, and which concerns would remain?
Open this dayWk13 Exit ticket: Heavy-metal exposure debate
Who should lead protection and cleanup planning in fictional Cedar Court, and what testing would add useful evidence?
Open this dayWk14 Exit ticket: Heart transplant allocation debate
How should a fictional committee justify allocation priorities while respecting equal worth and uncertain outcomes?
Open this dayWk14 Exit ticket: Ventilator allocation ethics debate
Which allocation criteria can you defend while acknowledging missing clinical evidence and a genuine tradeoff?
Open this dayBiotechnology for Health (Biomedical Innovations)
Speed-vs-equity debate
How should an ER design improve timely care while protecting urgency-based triage and fair care?
Open this dayER-ethics debate
For the supplied ER bay, would you choose glass or solid walls, and which privacy or visibility tradeoff would you accept?
Open this dayInnovation-safety debate
Which safety claim is supported, and what evidence is still missing?
Open this dayData-ethics debate
What collection or storage limit should the fictional class adopt, and how would it change your proposed plan?
Open this dayBiometric-privacy debate
Which specific safeguard should protect a physiological analysis column, and how should that change the report?
Open this dayInnovation debate
Which criterion should lead the decision to develop the proposed aid, and what evidence could change that priority?
Open this daySource ethics debate
Which evidence should govern this specific design claim, while still treating the person’s experience respectfully?
Open this dayEnvironmental justice debate
How can a community act on an unequal exposure indicator while keeping responsibility claims within the evidence?
Open this dayPublic health debate
Does Alder’s proposed fourteen-day restriction justify its burdens, given the supplied outbreak counts and missing effectiveness evidence?
Open this dayRisk communication debate
Which tone can you defend for a specific audience while keeping facts, uncertainty and a usable action honest?
Open this dayEngineered organism debate
What patient benefit, safety evidence and safeguards would justify your position on contained production of insulin?
Open this dayResearch duty: honest records and bounded claims
How strict should review be when a document gap limits what a researcher can honestly claim?
Open this day