Biomedical science abounds with gray matter – and not just brains. That’s because ethically challenging situations, which arise so often in labs, hospitals and clinics, fall in a great big gray area of concern. Wouldn’t it be nice to just fire off an e-mail describing your perplexing situation and get a quick authoritative response?

Stanford students, faculty and staff can do just that by sending an e-mail to an “Ask the Bioethicist,” service offered by the Center for Biomedical Ethics.

What’s an ethically challenging situation? Here are a few examples:

• What do you do as a medical student if a resident has introduced you as a “doctor” to a patient?

• What if you are told to procure blood samples without explaining to the patient that you will use them for a research project?

• What should you tell a patient with cancer whose family insists that she not be told of her condition?

David Magnus, PhD, co-director of the center and associate professor of pediatrics, will select questions and post the full answers on the center’s Web site; Stanford Medicine magazine will publish selected Q & A’s as well. The names of those who submit questions will not be disclosed.

Magnus can’t turn gray to black and white but he can clear the murk.

Submit questions to dmagnus@stanford.edu with “Ask the Bioethicist” in the subject line.