Authors Trevor M. Bibler (Baylor College of Medicine), Myrick C. Shinall, Jr. (Vanderbilt University Medical Center), and Center Assistant Professor Dr. Devan Stahl have a target article in the May 2018 American Journal of Bioethics, on “Responding to Those Who Hope for a Miracle: Practices for Clinical Bioethicists.” Additionally, AJOB published correspondence from the authors, “Response to Open Peer Commentaries on “Responding to Those Who Hope for a Miracle: Practices for Clinical Bioethicists”,” where the three authors discuss significant points of disagreement, clarification, and agreement from the responses to their article.

Abstract: Significant challenges arise for clinical care teams when a patient or surrogate decision-maker hopes a miracle will occur. This article answers the question, “How should clinical bioethicists respond when a medical decision-maker uses the hope for a miracle to orient her medical decisions?” We argue the ethicist must first understand the complexity of the miracle-invocation. To this end, we provide a taxonomy of miracle-invocations that assist the ethicist in analyzing the invocator’s conceptions of God, community, and self. After the ethicist appreciates how these concepts influence the invocator’s worldview, she can begin responding to this hope with specific practices. We discuss these practices in detail and offer concrete recommendations for a justified response to the hope for a miracle.

The full text as well as the response are available online through Taylor & Francis Online (MSU Library or other institutional access may be required to view these articles).