Veterinarians serve on the front lines working to prevent animal suffering and abuse. For centuries, their compassion and expertise have improved the quality of life and death for animals in their care. However, modern interest in animal rights has led more and more people to ask questions about the ethical considerations that lie behind common veterinary practices. This Common Threads volume, drawn from articles originally published in the Journal of Animal Ethics (JAE), offers veterinarians and other interested readers a primer on key issues in the field. Essays in the first section discuss aspects of veterinary oaths, how advances in animal cognition science factor into current ethical debates, and the rise of complementary and alternative veterinary medicine and its relationship to traditional veterinary medicine. The second section continues with an essay that addresses why veterinarians have an obligation to educate animal caregivers to look past "cuteness" in order to treat all animals with dignity. The collection closes with three short sections focusing on animals in farming, trade, and research ”areas where veterinarians encounter conflicts between their job and their duty to advocate and care for animals. Contributors: Judith Benz-Schwarzburg, Vanessa Carli Bones, Grace Clement, Simon Coghlan, Priscilla N. Cohn, Mark J. Estren, Elisa Galgut, Eleonora Gullone, Matthew C. Halteman, Andrew Knight, Drew Leder, Andrew Linzey, Clair Linzey, Kay Peggs, Megan Schommer, Clifford Warwick, and James W. Yeates.

Most cholesterol doesn't come from foods -- it's made by the body itself! Statins work by interfering with the body's ability to manufacture cholesterol. Statins: Miracle or Mistake? explains both the pro and con sides of this incredible drug, using interviews with statin researchers and prescribers and presenting the findings in clear, jargon-free language. Learn how to watch for warning signs if you are using statins. Discover how statins are a huge business for both drug companies and anti-statin forces. This guide talks with people on all sides of the statin issue, finding out what they believe and why -- and how they stand to benefit. Most important, Statins: Miracle or Mistake? tells readers what to ask their own healthcare practitioners. It's time for nonprofessionals to learn how to manage these drugs. This important guide shows what to do -- and not do.

Severe, chronic pain affects at least 116 million Americans every year. But there are fewer than 4,000 pain specialists in the United States, and many insurers won't cover physical therapy. But powerful pain medicines? They will certainly cover those. Prescriptions for powerful pain killers doubled between 1994 and 2008 -- and abuse skyrocketed as well. The grim headlines are all too familiar. Celebrities such as Whitney Houston die of overdoses. Teens mix legitimate medicines -- and pay with their lives. Heavy-handed government attempts to crack down on pain and anxiety medications have terrorized doctors and pharmacists and left thousands of desperate people in severe pain. Prescription Drug Abuse shows how big the problem is: how it became a problem, what is being done about it, and what readers can do. The book shows the risks, the benefits, and the safe way to use some of modern healthcare's most miraculous medicines.