In the 1960s, a committee of seven Seattle residents met regularly to decide which patients with chronic kidney disease were “worthy” of life-saving dialysis. Whoever wasn’t selected by the committee would likely die within months. An exposé of this so-called “God Squad” helped spark the formation of a new field: bioethics. In this prequel to playing god?, we’ll find out how this committee made life-and-death decisions, and why something like it is unlikely to happen again.
playing god? A bioethics podcast
- Episode 1: I Would’ve Let You Die, Too
- Episode 2: The Girl Who Died Twice
- Episode 3: Need a New Liver? Drinkers to the Back of the Line
- Episode 4: Why Can’t I Buy A Kidney?
- Episode 5: A Womb of One’s Own?
- Episode 6: Creating One Life to Save Another
- Episode 7: An Off Switch for Depression?
- Episode 8: Miracle Drugs, Million Dollar Price Tags
- Episode 9: The Future of Baby-Making
- Prequel: The God Squad
Prequel: The God Squad
Rick Mizelle, Jr.
Associate Professor of History
University of Houston
Kate Butler
Assistant Professor of Nephrology
University of Washington School of Medicine
Additional Resources
The God Squad was just one of many notable cases that led to the formation of the field of bioethics. The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute, has compiled a timeline of many of the most famous cases and their impact. Check it out here.
The Berman Institute has also collected oral histories– first hand accounts of the doctors, philosophers, lawyers and other scholars who were involved in many of these cases. You can explore that collection here.
The Greenwall Foundation seeks to make bioethics integral to decisions in health care, policy, and research. Learn more at greenwall.org.
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