29th Annual Conference on Bioethics
Cases That Haunt Us: Examining Medical Ethics Issues Through the Particularly Difficult Cases
DoubleTree by Hilton Ann Arbor North
3600 Plymouth Rd
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
November 8, 2025
8:30 am - 3:00 pm EST
Sponsored by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation
When registering be sure to select in-person or virtual attendance
Join us for our 2025 Conference on Bioethics, an engaging and thought-provoking event focused on the ethical complexity of real-world clinical encounters. This year's theme “Cases That Haunt Us: Examining Medical Ethics Issues Through the Particularly Difficult Cases,” offers a deep dive into the moral challenges of medicine through the lens of unforgettable, ethically fraught cases.
Highlights:
- Examine real cases involving
- Issues with medically fragile patients
- Disability, Discrimination and Clinical Ethics
- Guardianship and surrogate decisionmakers
- Pregnant patients and ethical responsibilities
- Parents, Physicians, and Pediatric ethics
- Discuss both best practices for ethical decision-making and ways to navigate ethical dilemmas and uncertainty
- Reflect on the moral aftershocks of clinical decisions that continue to resonate
8:30 – 8:45 am
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Jason Wasserman, PhD, Professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies, Department of Pediatrics, Director, Center for Moral Values in Health and Medicine, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine; Chair, MSMS Bioethics Conference
8:45 – 9:45 am
Keynote: From Diagnosis to Decision: The (Implicit?) Role of Eugenics in Modern Prenatal Care
Chris Ostertag, PhD, Regional Director of Clinical Ethics, Intermountain Health
9:45 - 10:30 am
Does a Suicidal Patient Have Capacity at End of Life?
Kenneth C. Hanson, MD, FACEP, FAEMS, Medical Director, MyMichigan Hospice; Palliative Medicine Consultant, MyMichigan Hospital System
10:30 – 10:45 am
Break w/exhibitors
10:45 – 11:45 am
When Values Collide: Medical Complexity, Moral Distress, and the Zone of Parental Decision-Making
Janice Firn, PhD, LMSW, HEC-C, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan Medical School
11:45 am – 12:00 pm
Break w/exhibitors
12:00 - 1:00 pm
lunch with Student Rapid Fire Paper Session
1:00 - 1:45 pm
End of Life Decisions: The Role of Guardianship in Patients with Lifelong Developmental Disability
Matthew Armstrong, MD, FASA, Corewell Health – West and John Pardington, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
1:45 – 2:00 pm
Break w/exhibitors
2:00 – 3:00 pm
Pregnancy Complications and Ethics of Surrogate Decision-Making
Parker Crutchfield, PhD, Professor, Department of Medical Ethics, Humanities, and Law, Western Michigan University and Jeffrey Byrnes, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Grand Valley State University
3:00 pm
Closing Remarks
New member benefit: All active MSMS members receive FREE CME, click here to join MSMS.
Registration Fees:
Members - FREE
Active Emeritus - FREE
Emeritus/Retired/Life - $50
Non-members - $100
Students and Residents - FREE
Statement of Accreditation:
The Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA Credit Designation Statement:
The MSMS designates this live activity for a maximum of 5.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.