This book illuminates issues in medical ethics revolving around the complex bond between healer and patient, focusing on friendship and other important values in the healing relationship. Embracing medicine, philosophy, theology, and bioethics, it considers whether bioethical issues in medicine, nursing, and dentistry can be examined from the perspective of the healing relationship rather than external moral principles.

Distinguished contributors explore the role of the health professional, the moral basis of health care, greater emphasis on the humanities in medical education, and some of the current challenges facing healers today.

In this book, public health ethicist Daniel S. Goldberg sets out to characterize the subjective experience of pain and its undertreatment within the US medical establishment, and puts forward public policy recommendations for ameliorating the undertreatment of pain. The book begins from the position that the overwhelming focus on opioid analgesics as a means for improving the undertreatment of pain is flawed, and argues instead that dominant Western models of biomedicine and objectivity delegitimize subjective knowledge of the body and pain in the US. This general intolerance for the subjectivity of pain is part of a specific American culture of pain in which a variety of actors take part, including not only physicians and health care providers, but also pain sufferers, caregivers, and policymakers. Concentrating primarily on bioethics, history, and public policy, the book brings a truly interdisciplinary approach to an urgent practical ethical problem. Taking up the practical challenge, the book culminates in a series of policy recommendations that provide pathways for moral agents to move beyond contests over drug policy to policy arenas that, based on the evidence, hold more promise in their capacity to address the devastating and inequitable undertreatment of pain in the US.

In Valuing Health Daniel M. Hausman provides a philosophically sophisticated overview of generic health measurement that suggests improvements in standard methods and proposes a radical alternative. He shows how to avoid relying on surveys and instead evaluate health states directly. Hausman goes on to tackle the deep problems of evaluation, offering an account of fundamental evaluation that does not presuppose the assignment of values to the properties and consequences of alternatives. After discussing the purposes of generic health measurement, Hausman defends a naturalistic concept of health and its relations to measures such as quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). In examining current health-measurement systems, Valuing Health clarifies their value commitments and the objections to relying on preference surveys to assign values to health states. Relying on an interpretation of liberal political philosophy, Hausman argues that the public value of health states should be understood in terms of the activity limits and suffering that health states impose. Hausman also addresses the moral conundrums that arise when policy-makers attempt to employ the values of health states to estimate the health benefits of alternative policies and to adopt the most cost-effective. He concludes with a general discussion of the difficulties of combining consequentialist and non-consequentialist moral considerations in policy-making.

Doctors in training are exposed to pressures and distractions to which they do not always respond appropriately, and individuals and institutions can struggle to deal effectively with difficulties when they arise. This book exposes the myths surrounding medical professionalism and strips it of pretensions or exclusivity, making a complex subject accessible and easy to comprehend. It promotes best practice for dealing with unprofessional behaviours amongst doctors-in-training. Divided into two main sections, this workbook first explores topics such as what constitutes professionalism, how it might best be taught and assessed, the interactions between professionalism, ethics and legal frameworks, international trends in medical education in relation to professionalism and implications for public policy. The second section presents 29 international case studies based on real life, explores issues and makes practical recommendations. Medical educators and students will appreciate the common format with key discussion points for each case and international health and social care professionals will welcome inspiration from the candid, sincere exploration of the topic.

Drawing on a wide range of primary historical and sociological sources and employing sharp philosophical analysis, this book investigates medical ethics from a Chinese-Western comparative perspective. In doing so, it offers a fascinating exploration of both cultural differences and commonalities exhibited by China and the West in medicine and medical ethics. The book carefully examines a number of key bioethical issues in the Chinese socio-cultural context including: attitudes toward foetuses; disclosure of information by medical professionals; informed consent; professional medical ethics; health promotion; feminist bioethics; and human rights. It not only provides insights into Chinese perspectives, but also sheds light on the appropriate methods for comparative cultural and ethical studies. Through his pioneering study, Jing-Bao Nie has put forward a theory of "trans-cultural bioethics," an ethical paradigm which upholds the primacy of morality whilst resisting cultural stereotypes, and appreciating the internal plurality, richness, dynamism and openness of medical ethics in any culture. Medical Ethics in China will be of particular interest to students and academics in the fields of Medical Law, Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Cross-Cultural Ethics as well as Chinese/Asian Studies and Comparative Cross-Cultural Studies.

The field of ethics is expanding and has assumed new significance as a compulsory part of study for psychiatrists and all mental health professionals. Ethics and Mental Health: The Patient, Profession and Community presents a new approach to these ethical dilemmas that have become an increasing part of modern practice. The book begins by exploring current normative theories of psychiatric ethics. It describes how empirical methods can make codes of conduct more representative of professional values. Considering their previous work, concepts of justice, and the moderate communitarian position, the authors outline their methodology, which argues that mental health professionals exist within a perpetual state of tension, caused by conflicts between the Hippocratic Oath, personal values, notions of social justice, and the potentially harmful influences of their social role. Applying their theory to the area of involuntary psychiatric treatment, the authors address the context of psychiatric practice and the moral agency of psychiatrists. They outline the different influences on the craft of psychiatry to better illustrate the diverse forces that impact moral deliberation and the practice of ethics in mental health. In doing so, they cover areas as diverse as cultural, economic, scientific, and political domains. The final section of the book applies the methodology to contemporary problems in mental health ethics, formulating how mental health clinicians can approach these quandaries. The book brings a new perspective to classic dilemmas from the past, to contemporary challenges, and in anticipation, to new concerns that will inevitably arise in a dynamic and complex professional context.

Patients who are confident of physicians' intellectual and technical abilities are sometimes not convinced of their professional behavior. Systemic and anecdotal cases of physician misconduct, conflict of interest, and self-interest abound. Many have even come to mistrust physicians as patient advocates. How can patients trust the intellectual and technical aspects of medical care, but not the professional? In order to enhance and promote professionalism in medicine, one should expect it, encourage it, and evaluate it. By measuring their own professional behavior, physicians can provide the kind of transparency with which they can regain the trust of patients and society.
Not only patients, but also institutions which accredit organizations have demanded accountability of physicians in their professional behavior. While there has been much lament and a few strong proposals for improving professionalism, no single reliable and valid measure of the success of these proposals exists. This book is a theory-to-practice text focused on ways to evaluate professional behavior written by leaders in the field of medical education and assessment.

Health and Human Rights in a Changing World is a comprehensive and contemporary collection of readings and original material examining health and human rights from a global perspective. Editors Grodin, Tarantola, Annas, and Gruskin are well-known for their previous two volumes (published by Routledge) on this increasingly important subject to the global community. The editors have contextualized each of the five sections with foundational essays; each reading concludes with discussion topics, questions, and suggested readings. This book also includes Points of View sections originally written perspectives by important authors in the field.

Section I is a Health and Human Rights Overview that lays out the essential knowledge base and provides the foundation for the following sections.

Section II brings in notions of concepts, methods, and governance framing the application of health and human rights, in particular the Human Rights-based Approaches to Health. Section III sheds light on issues of heightened vulnerability and special protection, stressing that the health and human rights record of any nation, any community, is determined by what is being done and not done about those who are most in need.

Section IV focuses on addressing system failures where health and human rights issues have been documented, recognized, even at times proclaimed as priorities, and yet insufficiently attended to as a result of State denial, unwillingness, or incapacity.

Section V examines the relevance of the health and human rights paradigm to a changing world, underscoring contemporary global challenges and responses.

Finally, a Concluding Note brings together the key themes of this set of articles and attempts to project a vision of the future.

The ethic of care has developed to become a body of theory that has expanded from its roots in social psychology to many other disciplines in the social sciences as well as the humanities. This work on care has informed both theory and practice by generating complex accounts of care ethics for multiple and intersecting kinds of relationships, and for a variety of domains and contexts. Its application now extends from the moral to the political realm, from personal to public relationships, from the local to the global, from feminine to feminist virtues and values, and from issues of gender to issues of power and oppression. The developments in the theories and applications of care ethics over the past few decades make this book an appropriate and timely publication. It includes chapters by authors who are developing or expanding theories of care ethics and also by those who work on applying and extending insights from care ethics to practices and policies in personal and institutional settings. Care Ethics provides readers from different disciplines and professional groups with a substantial number of new theories and applications from both new and established authors. This book was originally published as two special issues of Ethics and Social Welfare.

"Provides students with tools to identify the problems in heath care." "Health Care Ethics "is aclear, accessible text/reference that explores the full range of contemporary issues in health care ethics from a practical wisdom approach. The authors present the fundamental concerns of modern medical ethics--autonomy, beneficence, justice, and confidentiality--and then provide analysis, cases, and insights from professional literature to discuss them. Throughout, the discussion starts with larger issues or concepts and principles and then focuses on specific problems or complications. Learning GoalsUpon completing this book, readers will be able to:

• Identify the problems in health care ranging from end of life issues to testing and research.
• Develop a more well-rounded understanding of cultural traditions that are not a part of the mainstream discussion of American medical ethics.
• Analyze the various views on health care ethics.

The Routledge Handbook of the Ethics of Human Enhancement provides readers with a philosophically rich and scientifically grounded analysis of human enhancement and its ethical implications. A landmark in the academic literature, the volume covers human enhancement in genetic engineering, neuroscience, synthetic biology, regenerative medicine, bioengineering, and many other fields. The Handbook includes a diverse and multifaceted collection of 30 chapters—all appearing here in print for the first time— that reveal the fundamental ethical challenges related to human enhancement. The chapters have been written by internationally recognized leaders in the field and are organized into seven parts: Historical Background and Key Concepts Human Enhancement and Human Nature Physical Enhancement Cognitive Enhancement Mood Enhancement and Moral Enhancement Human Enhancement and Medicine Legal, Social, and Political Implications The depth and topical range of the Handbook makes it an essential resource for upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in a broad variety of disciplinary areas. Furthermore, it is an authoritative reference for basic scientists, philosophers, engineers, physicians, lawyers, and other professionals who work on the topic of human enhancement.

Issues concerning patients' rights are at the center of bioethics, but the political basis for these rights has rarely been examined. In "Bioethics in a Liberal Society: The Political Framework of Bioethics Decision Making," Thomas May offers a compelling analysis of how the political context of liberal constitutional democracy shapes the rights and obligations of both patients and health care professionals. May focuses on how a key feature of liberal society--namely, an individual's right to make independent decisions--has an impact on the most important relational facets of health care, such as patients' autonomy and professionals' rights of conscience.

Although a liberal political framework protects individual judgments, May asserts that this right is based on the assumption of an individual's competency to make sound decisions. May uses case studies to examine society's approach to medical decision making when, for reasons ranging from age to severe mental disorder, a person lacks sufficient competency to make independent and fully informed choices. To protect the autonomy of these vulnerable patients, May emphasizes the need for health care ethics committees and ethics consultants to help guide the decision-making process in clinical settings. "Bioethics in a Liberal Society" is essential reading for all those interested in understanding how bioethics is practiced within our society.

This work offers a comprehensive understanding rooted in Catholic anthropology and moral theory of the meaning and limits of informed and proxy consent to experimentation on human subjects. In particular, it seeks to articulate the rationale for proxy consent in both therapeutic and nontherapeutic settings. As to the former, the book proposes that the Golden Rule, recognizing the basic inclinations of human nature toward objective goods perfective of human persons, should underpin the notion of proxy consent to experimentation on humans. As to the latter, an additional scrutiny of the amount of risk involved is necessary, since the risk-benefit ratio frequently invoked to justify higher-risk therapeutic research does not exist in its nontherapeutic counterpart. This study discusses a number of possible solutions to this question and develops a position that builds upon the objective notion of the human good.

Bioethics developed as an academic and clinicaldiscipline during the later part of the 20th century due to a variety of factors. Crucial to this development was the increased secularization of American culture as well as the dissolution of medicine as a quasi-guild with its own professional ethics. In the context of this moral vacuum, bioethics came into existence. Its raison d'etre was opposition to the allegedpaternalism of the medical community and traditional moral frameworks, yet at the same time it set itself up as a source of moral authority with respect to biomedical decision making. Bioethics serves as biopolitics in so far as it attempts to make determinations about how individuals ought to make medical decisions and then attempts to codify that in law.Progressivism and secularism are ultimately the ideology of bioethics."

The ethical issues we face in healthcare, justice, and human rights extend beyond national boundaries-they are global and cross-cultural in scope. Editors Wanda Teays and Alison Dundes Renteln have assembled the works of an interdisciplinary, international team of experts in bioethics into a comprehensive, innovative and accessible book. It opens with theoretical frameworks that inform a global bioethics, followed by three units for an in-depth look at contemporary issues in the field. These are human rights, culture, and public health-with each unit including theoretical discussions and lively case studies. Topics range from torture and lethal injection to euthanasia, sex selection, vulnerable human subjects, to health equity, safety and public health, and environmental disasters like Bhopal, Fukushima, and more. The second edition includes new essays on Gender identity and reassignment Infectious diseases, vaccines and anti-vaccine campaigns Stem cell harvesting and usage Immigrant/refugee quarantine Bioterror and chemical weapons Medical tourism Xenotransplantation and bionic body parts Food and agriculture regulation and GMOs

As the demand for organs continues to outstrip availability and waiting lists surge, the pressure to make morally questionable, unethical decisions becomes more likely and trust in transplant medicine starts to erode. Medical ethics expert and former health professional, Trevor Stammers, analyses the complex ethical web that constitutes the worldwide exchange of organs and tissues. Key philosophical questions concerning existence, consciousness, the nature of death and the right to life connect organ donation and transplantation to real-life case studies exploring difficulties with the 'dead donor rule' for deceased donation, organ donation euthanasia, xenotransplantation and the creation of organoids and 'organs-on-chips', alongside examples of human trafficking and systematic state murder to provide organs. Controversial cases from Japan, Germany, USA and Singapore are examined alongside the Spanish, Welsh, and Chilean experience of deceased donation opt-out schemes to highlight the variety of threats and challenges to public trust in transplant medicine. Charting these examples provides valuable material for debates and discussions in the philosophy of medicine and medical ethics more generally. Stammers suggests viable alternatives to current ethical failings by focusing on the moral arguments that define public trust, moving the debate on transplant ethics in vital new directions.

From its earliest beginnings, the Catholic Church has cared for the sick and dying of the world as an extension of the healing ministry of Jesus. As a natural consequence, Catholics have regularly addressed moral issues relating to health care long before the term ""bioethics"" was coined. Beginning with a deeply nuanced, holistic understanding of the human person as their foundation, Catholic scholars have developed a person-centered ethic with which to approach ethical dilemmas that is understandable and defensible in the light of natural human reason, yet which is compatible with the teachings and doctrine of the Church - emphasizing the harmony of faith and reason within the Catholic moral tradition. ""Medicine, Health Care, and Ethics"" adds to this rich tradition with a collection of contemporary essays that represent the very best efforts of current Catholic scholarship in the field of health care and medical ethics. The book begins with an introductory section that explains the basic foundations of the personalist approach to ethics and its development within Catholic thought. The remaining parts of the book address timely topics such as artificial reproduction, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering, stem cell research, cloning, and health care reform. Each author brings a fresh perspective and a wealth of knowledge on these issues that will benefit Catholics as well as non-Catholics. With general overviews for each section, and topic-specific bibliographies to guide further study, this volume is designed to provide a greater understanding and deeper appreciation of the Catholic perspective on health care and medicine for both newcomers and seasoned students of bioethics alike. In today's culture of pluralism and diversity, the Catholic tradition has much wisdom to contribute to society's consideration of contemporary problems in medicine and health care. This collection of essays is offered in the spirit of open and honest dialogue for all who are seeking to understand that tradition.

The late 20th century has witnessed dramatic technological developments in biomedical science and the delivery of health care, and these developments have brought with them important social changes. All too often ethical analysis has lagged behind these changes. The purpose of this series is to provide lively, up-to-date, and authoritative studies for the increasingly large and diverse readership concerned with issues in biomedical ethics - not just healthcare trainees and professionals, but also social scientists, philosophers, lawyers, social workers, and legislators. This volume brings together work by an international group of contributors from various fields and perspectives, on ethical, social, and legal issues raised by recent advances in reproductive technology. These advances have put us in a position to choose what kinds of children and parents there should be; the aim of the essays is to illuminate how we should deal with these possibilities for choice. Topics discussed include gender and race selection, genetic engineering, fertility treatment, ovarian tissue transfer, and post-menopausal pregnancy. The central focus of the volume is the interface between reproductive c

ETHICS, JURISPRUDENCE AND PRACTICE MANAGEMENT IN DENTAL HYGIENE, 3/e is the definitive, up-to-date guide to ethics, jurisprudence, and practice management for all dental hygiene students, new graduates, and licensed practitioners. KEY FEATURES: The authors first introduce codes of ethics; discuss how ethical principles and moral values influence society, individual, and the profession; and cover crucial ethics-related topics such as informed consent. Next, they turn to practice management, showing how the dental practice must operate as a small business, and offering thorough career coverage. This edition's extensive updates include: dental therapists and other alternative workforce models; regulatory changes; opportunities in forensics; comparisons with practice in Canada; and much more. Extensive new resources are provided on the MyHealthProfessionsKit website.

This book analyses the concept of legal dignity employed in current bioethical debate and corresponding legal instruments. It develops a view of human dignity in existing regulation of activities such as pre-natal genetic selection, commodification of the human body, cloning, and euthanasia.

This volume brings together researchers from different European countries and disciplines who are involved in Clinical Ethics Consultation (CEC). The work provides an analysis of the theories and methods underlying CEC as well a discussion of practical issues regarding the implementation and evaluation of CEC. The first section deals with different possible approaches in CEC. The authors explore the question of how we should decide complex cases in clinical ethics, that is, which ethical theory, approach or method is most suitable in order to make an informed ethical decision. It also discusses whether clinical ethicists should be ethicists by education or rather well-trained facilitators with some ethical knowledge. The second chapter of this book focuses on practical aspects of the implementation of CEC structures. The analysis of experienced clinical ethicists refers to macro and micro levels in both developed and transitional countries. Research on the evaluation of CEC is at the centre of the final chapter of this volume. In this context conceptual as well as empirical challenges with respect to a sound approach to judgements about the quality of the work of CECs are described and suggestion for further research in this area are made. In summary this volumes brings together theorists and healthcare practitioners with expertise in CEC. In this respect the volume serves as good example for a multi- and interdisciplinary approach to clinical ethics which combines philosophical reasoning and empirical research.

Following the boom in population databases in recent years there has been sustained and intense international debate about political processes and legal and ethical issues surrounding the protection and use of genetic data. As a result, several national and international organizations and committees have published widely differing guidelines and statements concerning genetic databases and biobanks. Ethical Issues of Human Genetic Databases compares the new area of biobanking with the tradition of ethically accepted classical research and highlights the distinctive features of existing databases and guidelines. The volume identifies areas of consensus and controversy while investigating the challenges posed to classical health research ethics by the existence of genetic databases, analyzing the reasons for such varying guidelines. The book will be essential to academics, biobankers, policy-makers and researchers in the field of medical ethics.

Recent debate over healthcare and its spiraling costs has brought medical error into the spotlight as an indicator of everything that is ineffective, inhumane, and wasteful about modern medicine. But while the tendency is to blame it all on human error, it is a much more complex problem that involves overburdened systems, constantly changing technology, increasing specialization, and a cycle of continual funding shortfalls made even more acute by resource-wasting inefficiencies. Medical Error and Harm: Understanding, Prevention and Control, presents the work of long time physician and teacher Milos Jenicek, a pioneering expert on epidemiology, evidence-based medicine, and critical thinking and decision making in the health sciences. Providing an extraordinarily comprehensive overview of the subject that is as thorough and scientifically organized as it is accessible and free of rhetoric, Dr. Jenicek - Presents a short history of error in general across various domains of human activity and endeavor, including concepts, methodologies of study, and management applications Provides semantic and taxonomic classifications of challenges in medical error and harm, two distinct domains Explores approaches used to investigate and ameliorate challenges in medicine and other health sciences Explains why, when, and how studies and decisions regarding errors should be carried out, such as whether risk assessment should be undertaken in the diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis stage Covers essential strategies for mitigating errors in the broader framework of medical care, specifically in community medicine and public health Considers the ever-growing role of physicians in tort law and litigation The book also discusses whether dealing with errors is a learned skill and looks at how much of the problem with medical error is caused by the medical community's failure to teach, learn, and understand everything there is to know about medical error, including the often neglected importance of critical thinking skills. Understanding and correcting this shortfall is a primary responsibility of every health professional, one they can begin to realize with the study of these pages.

During the past few decades, high-profile cases like that of Terry Schiavo have fueled the public debate over forgoing or withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration from patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). These cases, whether involving adults or young children, have forced many to begin thinking in a measured and careful way about the moral legitimacy of allowing patients to die. Can families forgo or withdraw artificial hydration and nutrition from their loved ones when no hope of recovery seems possible? Many Catholics know that Catholic moral theology has formulated a well-developed and well-reasoned position on this and other end-of-life issues, one that distinguishes between "ordinary" and "extraordinary" treatment. But recent events have caused uncertainty and confusion and even acrimony among the faithful. In his 2004 allocution, Pope John Paul II proposed that artificial nutrition and hydration is a form of basic care, thus suggesting that the provision of such care to patients neurologically incapable of feeding themselves should be considered a moral obligation. The pope's address, which seemed to have offered a new development to decades of Catholic health care ethics, sparked a contentious debate among the faithful over how best to treat permanently unconscious patients within the tenets of Catholic morality. In this comprehensive and balanced volume, Ronald Hamel and James Walter present twenty-one essays and articles, contributed by physicians, clergy, theologians, and ethicists, to reflect the spectrum of perspectives on the issues that define the Catholic debate. Organized into six parts, each with its own introduction, the essays offer clinical information on PVS and feeding tubes; discussions on the Catholic moral tradition and how it might be changing; ecclesiastical and pastoral statements on forgoing or withdrawing nutrition and hydration; theological and ethical analyses on the issue; commentary on Pope John Paul II's 2004 allocution; and the theological commentary, court decisions, and public policy resulting from the Clarence Herbert and Claire Conroy legal cases. A valuable resource for students and scholars, this teachable volume invites theological dialogue and ethical discussion on one of the most contested issues in the church today.

In treatment, the psychotherapist is in a position of power. Often, this power is unintentionally abused. While trying to embody a compassionate concern for patients, therapists use accepted techniques that can inadvertently lead to control, indoctrination, and therapeutic failure. Contrary to the stated tradition and values of psychotherapy, they subtly coerce patients rather than respect and genuinely help them. The more gross kinds of patient abuse, deliberate ones such as sexual and financial exploitation, are expressly forbidden by professional organizations. However, there are no regulations discouraging the more covert forms of manipulation, which are not even considered exploitative by many clinicians. In this book, noted psychiatrist Theo. L. Dorpat strongly disagrees. Using a contemporary interactional perspective Dorpat demonstrates the destructive potential of manipulation and indoctrination in treatment. This book is divided into three parts. Part I explores the various ways power can be abused. Part II examines eleven treatment cases in which covert manipulation and control either caused analytic failure or severely impaired the treatment process. Cases discussed include the analyses of Dora and the Wolf Man by Freud, the two analyses of Mr. Z by Kohut, as well as other published and unpublished treatments. An interactional perspective is used to examine the harmful short- and long-term effects of using indoctrination methods as well as to unravel conscious and unconscious communications between therapists and patients that can contribute to manipulations. Part III shows readers how to work using a non-directive, egalitarian approach in both psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.