
Clinical Ethics Case Analyzer
Structure clinical ethics consultations with stakeholder mapping and evidence-based analysis
What You Can Do
You can rapidly diagnose clinical ethics cases by mapping stakeholders and their decision-making authority, identifying conflicts between autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice, selecting the most applicable normative framework (principlism, virtue ethics, or care ethics), and generating a course-of-action matrix with ethical justifications. This skill prepares you for consultations with clinical teams, families, and ethics committees with a complete, defensible analysis grounded in established bioethical frameworks.
Features
identifies all parties involved, their decision-making authority, and value priorities
reveals conflicts between autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice
recommends the most applicable bioethical approach (principlism, virtue ethics, care ethics)
structures evaluation using established legal and ethical standards (Appelbaum criteria)
presents options with ethical justifications, foreseeable harms, and benefits
generates write-ups suitable for medical records and ethics committee review
accelerates the diagnostic phase before bedside meetings or committee discussions
Example Output
Example 1: Surrogate Decision-Making Conflict
Case: 78-year-old with advanced dementia, daughter requests withdrawal of life support; spouse opposes.
Output Generated:
- Primary Stakeholders: Patient (incapacitated), spouse, daughter, clinical team
- Ethical Conflict: Autonomy (patient's prior values) vs. beneficence (spouse's interpretation of best interest)
- Applicable Framework: Principlism with attention to substituted judgment vs. best interest standard
- Recommended Course: Facilitate family discussion clarifying patient's previously expressed preferences; if unavailable, apply best interest standard with ethics committee consultation
- Documentation: Structured note documenting decision-making process and ethical rationale for medical record
Example 2: Resource Allocation During Crisis
Case: ICU at capacity; clinical team requests ethics guidance on ventilator triage during surge.
Output Generated:
- Primary Stakeholders: Current ICU patients, incoming patients, hospital leadership, clinical staff
- Ethical Conflict: Justice (fair allocation) vs. non-maleficence (avoiding harm to current patients)
- Applicable Framework: Utilitarian justice framework balanced with equality-of-opportunity approach
- Recommended Course: Implement transparent allocation protocol; establish appeals process; ensure equal access based on medical criteria, not demographics
- Documentation: Policy-level guidance suitable for institutional records and committee approval
What's Included
- SKILL.md instruction file: complete prompting system for structured case analysis
- Stakeholder mapping template: identify parties, authority, and values systematically
- Ethical principle conflict matrix: visualize tensions between autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice
- Normative framework selection guide: choose between principlism, virtue ethics, care ethics, and consequentialism
- Decision-making capacity checklist: structured assessment using Appelbaum criteria (understanding, appreciation, reasoning, expressing choice)
- Course of action documentation template: generate medical-record-ready ethics consultation notes
Who It's For
- Bioethicists and ethics consultants conducting rapid case analyses before consultations
- Clinical team leaders seeking structured ethical guidance for difficult care decisions
- Hospital ethics committees preparing for case review and deliberation
- Palliative care specialists navigating end-of-life decision-making conflicts
- Patient advocates and family liaisons preparing for family conferences and decision-making discussions
Best For
- Stat ethics consultations under time pressure
- Surrogate decision-making conflicts (incapacity, disagreement)
- End-of-life care and withdrawal of life support decisions
- Resource allocation and triage scenarios
- Family conferences and ethics committee preparation
- Medical record documentation of ethical reasoning







