1. Given the history of conflicts of interest in prescribing drugs (including pharmaceutical companies' aggressive marketing), is an independent body needed to recommend which medicines may be prescribed based on evidence-based medicine? Discuss.

2. To pursue the common good, should the federal government control healthcare costs and guarantee quality of patient care by enacting laws to require the uniform disclosure of audited outcome data from all health insurers and health care providers nationwide? How might such a practice infringe on the free enterprise practice of medicine without government monitoring? Discuss.

3. Would the elimination of individual medical malpractice liability foster more ethical behavior by making it easier for hospitals to institute a blame-free culture that encourages open discussion of medical errors and near misses? Discuss.

4. What historical legal cases promoted the institution of hospital ethics committees and what is the role of these committees? Discuss.