Torture doctors invent and oversee techniques to inflict pain and suffering without leaving scars. Their knowledge of the body and its breaking points and their credible authority over death certificates and medical records make them powerful and elusive perpetrators of the crime of torture. In The Torture Doctors, Steven H. Miles fearlessly explores who these physicians are, what they do, how they escape justice, and what can be done to hold them accountable. At least one hundred countries employ torture doctors, including both dictatorships and democracies. While torture doctors mostly act with impunity-protected by governments, medical associations, and licensing boards-Miles shows that a movement has begun to hold these doctors accountable and to return them to their proper role as promoters of health and human rights. Miles's groundbreaking portrayal exposes the thinking and psychology of these doctors, and his investigation points to how the international human rights community and the medical community can come together to end these atrocities.

Ethical Problems and Genetics Practice provides a rich, case-based account of the ethical issues arising in the genetics clinic and laboratory. By analysing a wide range of evocative and often arresting cases from practice, Michael Parker provides a compelling insight into the complex moral world of the contemporary genetics professional and the challenges they face in the care of patients and their families. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the ethical issues arising in everyday genetics practice. Ethical Problems and Genetics Practice is also a sustained engagement with the relationships between bioethics and social science. In proposing and exemplifying a new approach to bioethics, it makes a significant contribution to debates on methods and interdisciplinarity and will therefore also appeal to all those concerned with theoretical and methodological approaches to bioethics and social science.

This volume proposes a move away from the universalized and general modern ethical method, as it is currently practiced in biomedical ethics, while aiming toward a decision making process rooted in an ontology of relationality. Moyse uses the theological ethics of Karl Barth, in conversation with a range of thinkers, to achieve this turn.

Psychiatry Under the Influence investigates the actions and practices of the American Psychiatric Association and academic psychiatry in the United States, and presents it as a case study of institutional corruption.

This renowned history of intersex in America has been comprehensively updated to reflect recent shifts in attitudes, bioethics, and medical and legal practices. In Bodies in Doubt, Elizabeth Reis traces the changing definitions, perceptions, and medical management of intersex (atypical sex development) in America from the colonial period to the present. Arguing that medical practice must be understood within its broader cultural context, Reis demonstrates how deeply physicians have been influenced by social anxieties about marriage, heterosexuality, and same-sex desire throughout American history In this second edition, Reis adds two new chapters, a new preface, and a revised introduction to assess recent dramatic shifts in attitudes, bioethics, and medical and legal practices. Human rights organizations have declared early genital surgeries a form of torture and abuse, but doctors continue to offer surgical "repair," and parents continue to seek it for their children. While many are hearing the human rights call, controversies persist, and Reis explains why best practices in this field remain fiercely contested.

What are the moral challenges that confront doctors as they manage healthcare institutions? How do we build trust in medical organisations? How do we conceptualize moral action? Based on accounts given by senior doctors from organisations throughout the UK, this book discusses the issues medical leaders find most troubling and identifies the moral tensions they face. Moral Leadership in Medicine examines in detail how doctors protect patients' interests, implement morally controversial change, manage colleagues in difficulty and rebuild trust after serious medical harm. The book discusses how leaders develop moral narratives to make sense of these situations, how they behave while balancing conflicting moral goals and how they influence those around them to do the right thing in difficult circumstances. Based on empirical ethical analysis, this volume is essential reading for clinicians in leadership roles and students and academics in the fields of healthcare management, medical law and healthcare ethics.

The essays in Where's the Evidence? focus on problems ignored. This book is a unique collection of critical andw controversial essays on intractable ethical issues and evidence-based problems in modern medicine. Most, but notr therapeutic disasters. Although it is impossible to prevent all missteps in medicine, the author argues, a hedging strategy using concurrent controls when new therapies are introduced always reduces the number of patients killed or injured. It is dangerous to use treatments widely, he warns, before they are subject to rigorous comparative trials. Additionally, the author points out, questions have emerged about how to wield medicine's new capabilities wisely. How do we draw the line,' he asks 'between "knowing" (the acquisition of new medical information) and "doing" (the application of that new knowledge). What are the long- term consequences (moral, social, economic, and biological) of responding to a demand that medicine always do everything that can be done?' This book now issued in paperback is a collection of critical and controversial essays discussing intractable ethical issues and evidence-based problems in modern medicine. The essays together with responses were published over a ten-year period in the journal Paediatric and Perinatal Medicine. Most of the examples, but not all are taken from perinatal medicine, the field in which the author has worked for many years. The essays are thought provoking and will be of great interest to those involved in the ongoing evidence-based medicine debate. (See selected reviews)

This open access book presents an ethical approach to utilizing personal medical data. It features essays that combine academic argument with practical application of ethical principles. The contributors are experts in ethics and law. They address the challenges in the re-use of medical data of the deceased on a voluntary basis. This pioneering study looks at the many factors involved when individuals and organizations wish to share information for research, policy-making, and humanitarian purposes. Today, it is easy to donate blood or even organs, but it is virtually impossible to donate one's own medical data. This is seen as ethically unacceptable. Yet, data donation can greatly benefit the welfare of our societies. This collection provides timely interdisciplinary research on biomedical big data. Topics include the ethics of data donation, the legal and regulatory challenges, and the current and future collaborations. Readers will learn about the ethical and regulatory challenges associated with medical data donations. They will also better understand the special nature of using deceased data for research purposes with regard to ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice. In addition, the contributors identify the key governance issues of such a scheme. The essays also look at what we can learn in terms of best practice from existing medical data schemes.

Drawn from the popular "Narrative Matters" column in the journal Health Affairs, these essays embody a vision for a health care system that centers the humanity of patients and doctors alike. Health care decision making affects patients and families first and foremost, yet their perspectives are not always factored into health policy deliberations and discussions. In this anthology, Jessica Bylander brings together the personal stories of the patients, physicians, caregivers, policy makers, and others whose writings add much-needed human context to health care decision making. Drawn from the popular "Narrative Matters" column in the leading health policy journal Health Affairs, this collection features essays by some of the leading minds in health care today, including Pulitzer Prize-winner Siddhartha Mukherjee, MacArthur fellow Diane Meier, former Planned Parenthood president Leana S. Wen, and former secretary of health and human services Louis W. Sullivan. The collection also presents important stories from lesser-known voices, including a transgender doctor in Oklahoma who calls for better treatment of trans patients and a palliative care physician who reflects on how perspectives on hastening death have changed in recent years. A foreword written by National Humanities Medal recipient Abraham Verghese, MD, further rounds out the book. The collection of thirty-two essays is organized around several themes: * the practice of medicine * medical innovation and research * patient-centered care * the doctor-patient relationship * disparities and discrimination * aging and end-of-life care * maternity and childbirth * opioids and substance abuse Contributors: Louise Aronson, Laura Arrowsmith, Cheryl Bettigole, Cindy Brach, Gary Epstein-Lubow, Jonathan Friedlaender, Patricia Gabow, Katti Gray, Yasmin Sokkar Harker, Timothy Hoff, Carla Keirns, Raya Elfadel Kheirbek, Katy B. Kozhimannil, Pooja Lagisetty, Maria Maldonado, Maureen A. Mavrinac, Diane E. Meier, Dina Keller Moss, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Donna Jackson Nakazawa, Travis N. Rieder, Aroonsiri Sangarlangkarn, Elaine Schattner, Janice Lynch Schuster, Myrick C. Shinall, Gayathri Subramanian, Louis W. Sullivan, Gautham K. Suresh, Abraham Verghese, Otis Warren, Leana S. Wen, Charlotte Yeh

Recent developments in biotechnology and genetic research are raising complex ethical questions concerning the legitimate scope and limits of genetic intervention. As we begin to contemplate the possibility of intervening in the human genome to prevent diseases, we cannot help but feel that the human species might soon take biological evolution into its own hands. In this important new book, Jurgen Habermas--the most influential philosopher and social thinker in Germany today--takes up the question of genetic engineering and its ethical implications and subjects it to careful philosophical scrutiny. Habermas's analysis is guided by the view that genetic manipulation is closely tied to the identity and self-understanding of the species. Habermas is particularly concerned with the question of how the biotechnological blurring of the distinction between the "grown" and the "made" may change our ethical self-understanding both as members of the species and as individuals. We cannot rule out the possibility that knowledge of one's own heredity will restrict individual freedom and undermine the symmetrical relations between free and equal human beings. In the concluding chapter--which was delivered as a lecture on receiving the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for 2001--Habermas broadens the discussion to examine the tension between science and religion in the modern world, a tension that exploded with tragic violence on September 11, 2001.

This book explores, through case studies, the interplay between religion, culture, government, and politics in diverse societies on questions arising in the domain of bioethics. The case studies draw from multiple disciplinary perspectives, including history, theology, law, bioethics, public policy, science, and medicine. The text's global perspective permits a comparison of the differing approaches adopted by countries facing similar bioethical quandaries and the extent to which religion has or has not been instrumental in addressing such dilemmas. Secular and religious societies across the globe are being confronted with complex questions involving religious belief and the extent to which specific religious perspectives have in the past or should in the future be adopted as official policy. Bioethical issues involving the interplay of religion and government have become particularly notable in recent years. How these issues are resolved has major implications for individuals, healthcare providers, and the future of medical research and medical care. Topics explored among the chapters include: Homosexuality: Sin, Crime, Pathology, Identity, Behavior Medical Error: Truthtelling, Apology, and Forgiveness Refusal of Medical Treatment Medical Deportation Case Study: Nazism, Religion, and Human Experimentation The New Frontier: Cloning Case Studies in Society, Religion, and Bioethics will find an engaged audience among researchers and scholars in history, religion/theology, medicine, and bioethics interested in the influence of religion on bioethical decision-making. Students-particularly upper-level undergraduate and graduate students interested in bioethics, humanities, and theology-will find the text helpful in understanding the processes through which religion may serve as a basis for both societal policy and law and individual decision-making in health-related matters.

In this book, authors from a wide interdisciplinary spectrum discuss the issue of care. The book covers both philosophical and therapeutic studies and contains a three-pronged approach to discussing the concepts of care: vulnerability, otherness, and therapy. Above all, it is a matter of combining, in a plural form, a path with multiple theoretical and conceptual bifurcations, but which always point to an observation of society from the perspective of human vulnerability.

Ectogenesis refers to the artificial gestation of a fetus outside the womb. Despite certain advantages for women's reproductive liberty, feminist groups remain divided regarding this technology. This book argues that reproduction imposes unjust burdens on women, and thus the ideals of equal opportunity demand continued research into ectogenesis.

This book addresses a research gap in the study of eugenics in fictional literature: the analysis of the nexus of eugenics and genetics in 21st-century novels, detached from their authors' ideological beliefs. It is based on an understanding of literature as an interdiscourse in Jurgen Link's sense. The study employs categories developed by Rabinow and Rose in the context of Foucault's concept of "biopower." It thereby demonstrates that, though officially fallen from grace in light of the Nazi atrocities committed in the name of racial hygiene, eugenic ideas remain surprisingly resilient in the sciences as well as in fiction. Thus, the nexus between eugenics and genetics continues to serve as an important force in the structuring of scientific and contemporary popular (inter-)discourses.

While neuroscience has provided insights into the structure and function of nervous systems, hard questions remain about the nature of consciousness, mind, and self. Perhaps the most difficult questions involve the meaning of neuroscientific information, and how to pursue and utilize neuroscientific knowledge in ways that are consistent with some construal of social 'good'. Written for researchers and graduate students in neuroscience and bioethics, Scientific and Philosophical Perspectives in Neuroethics explores important developments in neuroscience and neurotechnology, and addresses the philosophical, ethical, and social issues and problems that such advancements generate. It examines three core questions. First, what is the scope and direction of neuroscientific inquiry? Second, how has progress to date affected scientific and philosophical ideas, and finally, what ethical issues and problems does this progress and knowledge incur, both now and in the future?

The History and Bioethics of Medical Education: "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" continues the Routledge Advances in the History of Bioethics series by exploring approaches to the teaching of bioethics from disparate disciplines, geographies, and contexts. Van Rensselaer Potter coined the phrase "Global Bioethics" to define human relationships with their contexts. This and subsequent volumes return to Potter's founding vision from historical perspectives and asks, how did we get here from then? The patient-practitioner relationship has come to the fore in bioethics; this volume asks: is there an ideal bioethical curriculum? Are the students being carefully taught and, in turn, are they carefully learning? This volume will appeal to those working in both clinical medicine and the medical humanities, as vibrant connections are drawn between various ways of knowing.

During the last thirty years we have witnessed sweeping changes in health care worldwide, including new and expensive biomedical technologies, an increasingly powerful and influential pharmaceutical industry, steadily increasing health care costs in industrialised nations, and new threats to medical professionalism. The essays collected in this book concern costs and profits in relation to just health care, the often controversial practices of pharmaceutical companies, and corruption in the professional practice of medicine. Leading experts discuss justice in relation to business-friendly strategies in the delivery of health care, access to life saving drugs, the ethics of pharmaceutical company marketing practices, exploitation in drug trials, and undue industry influence over medicine. They offer guidance regarding the ethical delivery of health care products and services by profit-seeking organisations operating in a global marketplace, and recommend pragmatic solutions to enhance organisational integrity and curb medical corruption in the interest of patient welfare.

This collection addresses whether ethicists, like authorities in other fields, can speak as experts in their subject matter. Though ethics consultation is a growing practice in medical contexts, there remain difficult questions about the role of ethicists in professional decision-making. Contributors examine the nature and plausibility of moral expertise, the relationship between character and expertise, the nature and limits of moral authority, how one might become a moral expert, and the trustworthiness of moral testimony. This volume engages with the growing literature in these debates and offers new perspectives from both academics and practitioners. The readings will be of particular interest to bioethicists, clinicians, ethics committees, and students of social epistemology. These new essays promise to advance discussions in the professionalization and accreditation of ethics consultation.

In this novel examination of the issue of abortion, the authors offer a primer in the biological aspects of fetal development and its impact on the abortion controversy. Although purely scientific study cannot offer a universal solution to the issue of abortion, nor can a purely political or moral response be fully informed without the benefit of the latest scientific knowledge.

Reviewing the latest developments in molecular biology, evolutionary biology, embryology, and neurophysiology, the authors reveal a surprising agreement of scientific opinion on when 'humanness' begins: with the development of a highly developed cerebral cortex. It is on this issue that the authors focus with sensitivity to the myriad of ethical and religious arguments that surround it.

Increasingly digital technologies are used in healthcare. This book explores eight digital health technologies, situated the context of a life span, from high-throughput genomic sequencing technologies and do-it-yourself (DIY) insulin delivery for diabetes management in paediatrics, to the use of robotic care assistants for older adults and digital advance care decisions. A scene-setting case scenario at the start of each chapter describes the digital technology and identifies the sometimes competing interests of the key stakeholders. Broad themes of resource allocation, access to technologies, informed consent, privacy of health data and ethical concerns are considered in context, alongside analysis of legal duties owed by healthcare professionals to act in their patients' best interests. This book addresses legal and ethical issues arising from the use of emerging digital health technologies and is of interest to academics, clinicians and regulators and anyone interested in the development of health technologies and the challenges they may present. It focusses on the Australian legal framework, with some comparison to other jurisdictions.

Increasingly digital technologies are used in healthcare. This book explores eight digital health technologies, situated the context of a life span, from high-throughput genomic sequencing technologies and do-it-yourself (DIY) insulin delivery for diabetes management in paediatrics, to the use of robotic care assistants for older adults and digital advance care decisions. A scene-setting case scenario at the start of each chapter describes the digital technology and identifies the sometimes competing interests of the key stakeholders. Broad themes of resource allocation, access to technologies, informed consent, privacy of health data and ethical concerns are considered in context, alongside analysis of legal duties owed by healthcare professionals to act in their patients' best interests. This book addresses legal and ethical issues arising from the use of emerging digital health technologies and is of interest to academics, clinicians and regulators and anyone interested in the development of health technologies and the challenges they may present. It focusses on the Australian legal framework, with some comparison to other jurisdictions.

How liberal democracies in the late twentieth century have sought to resolve public concerns over charged issues in medicine and science. Ethics boards have become obligatory passage points in today's medical science, and we forget how novel they really are. The use of humans in experiments is an age-old practice that records show goes back to at least the third century BC, and it has been popular as a practice since the early modern period. Yet in most countries around the world, hardly any formal checks and balances existed to govern the communal oversight of experiments involving human subjects until at least the 1960s. Ethics by Committee traces the rise of ethics boards for human experimentation in the second half of the twentieth century. Using the Netherlands as a case study, historian Noortje Jacobs shows how the authority of physicians to make decisions about clinical research in this period gave way in most developed nations to formal mechanisms of communal decision-making that served to regiment the behavior of individual researchers. This historically unprecedented change in scientific governance came out of the growing international wariness of medical research in the decades after World War II and was meant to solidify a new way of reasoning together in liberal democracies about medicine and science. But what reasoning together meant, and who was invited to participate, changed drastically over time. In detailing this history, Jacobs shows that research ethics committees were originally intended not only to make human experimentation more ethical but also to raise its epistemic quality and intensify the use of new clinical research methods. By examining complex negotiations over the appropriate governance of human subjects research, Ethics by Committee is an important contribution to our understanding of the randomized controlled trial and the history of research ethics and bioethics more generally.

Few would question the necessity of artificial limbs for amputees. But what of surgery to lengthen the legs of children who are merely shorter than average? Hardly anyone would challenge the decision to prescribe Aricept to people with dementia. But is it acceptable to give the same medication to airline pilots seeking sharper mental focus on long-haul flights?

Humans have engaged in biological self-improvement since long before recorded history, from the impotence-curing wild lotus brew of the ancient Egyptians to the herbal energy drink favored by early Olympians. Now biomedical enhancements are pushing the boundaries of possibility and acceptability. Where do we draw the line? How do we know the true ramifications of pioneering medicine? What price are we willing to pay for perfection?

Maxwell J. Mehlman's provocative examination of these issues speaks to fundamental questions of what it means to be human. He finds public officials ill-equipped to handle the ethical, scientific, and public policy quandaries of biomedical enhancement. Instead of engaging difficult questions of morality, access, fairness, and freedom, elected officials have crafted toothless and counterproductive laws and regulations.

Mehlman outlines policy options to boost the societal benefits and minimize the risks from these technologies. In the process, he urges the public to face the ethical issues surrounding biomedical enhancement, lest our quest for perfection compromise our very humanity.

Drawing on the findings of a series of empirical studies undertaken with boards of directors and CEOs in the United States, this groundbreaking book develops a new paradigm to provide a structured analysis of ethical healthcare governance. Governance Ethics in Healthcare Organizations begins by presenting a clear framework for ethical analysis, designed around basic features of ethics - who we are, how we function, and what we do - before discussing the paradigm in relation to clinical, organizational and professional ethics. It goes on to apply this framework in areas that are pivotal for effective governance in healthcare: oversight structures for trustees and executives, community benefit, community health, patient care, patient safety and conflicted collaborative arrangements. This book is an important read for all those interested in healthcare management, corporate governance and healthcare ethics, including academics, students and practitioners.

All investigators funded by the National Institutes of Health are now required to receive training about the ethics of clinical research. Based on a course taught by the editors at NIH, Ethical and Regulatory Aspects of Clinical Research is the first book designed to help investigators meet this new requirement. The book begins with the history of human subjects research and guidelines instituted since World War II. It then covers various stages and components of the clinical trial process: designing the trial, recruiting participants, ensuring informed consent, studying special populations, and conducting international research. Concluding chapters address conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, and challenges to the IRB system. The appendix provides sample informed consent forms.

This book will be used in undergraduate courses on research ethics and in schools of medicine and public health by students who are or will be carrying out clinical research. Professionals in need of such training and bioethicists also will be interested.