Synopses & Reviews
In their thought-provoking and insightful revised introductory ethics text, authors Michael Panicola, David Belde, John Slosar, and Mark Repenshek address complex and controversial health care issues that are very much a part of our everyday lives. Using a normative framework, the authors incorporate specific issues, case studies, and multimedia aides in each chapter to encourage students to engage in moral discourse and reflection. The authors' stimulating faith-based discussion of how particular circumstances in society have an impact on ethical decision making is a significant contribution to our understanding of the complex relationship between health care issues and ethics.
Linking new material, including chapters on the patient-physician relationship, regenerative medicine, the pharmaceutical/device industry, and health care reform, to classic chapters on reproductive technology, abortion and maternal-fetal care, stem cell research, genomic technologies, and end-of-life care, the authors underscore the important real-life concerns and issues that confront people in their daily living and the need to discern these concerns and issues with the goal of attaining human and social flourishing.
Key additions to the revised text include a glossary; updated facts, figures, tables, and statistics; new case studies; chapter discussion questions, including social-ethics questions; and social analysis.
About the Author
Michael R. Panicola, PhD (Saint Louis University) is corporate vice president of ethics for SSM Health Care in Saint Louis, MO. David M. Belde, PhD (Saint Louis University) is administrative director of ethics and mission for Bon Secours Richmond Health System in Richmond, VA. John Paul Slosar, PhD (Saint Louis University) is director of ethics for Ascension Health in Saint Louis, MO. Mark F. Repenshek, PhD (Saint Louis University) is a health care ethicist for Columbia Saint Mary's Hospitals in Milwaukee, WI.
Table of Contents
1.Understanding Ethics and How We Approach Ethical Decisions
Understanding Ethics Generally
Understanding Health Care Ethics
How We Approach Ethical Decisions
Conclusion
2.The Bases for Our Decisions and the Role of Discernment
A Proposed Normative Basis
The Role of Discernment
Conclusion
3.Professionalism and the Patient-Physician Relationship
What Does Professionalism Mean?
Aspects of Physician Professionalism
Conclusion
4.Abortion and Maternal-Fetal Care
Difficult Questions
Setting the Context: Clinical, Social, and Legal Considerations
Types of Abortion Procedures
The Social and Legal Status of Abortion in the United States
The Intersection of Law, Public Policy, Ethics, and Abortion
Discussion: Ethical Issues and Analysis
Conclusion
5.Care of Critically Ill Newborns
Fateful Decisions in the Neonatal Context
Setting the Context: The Evolution of Neonatal Medicine
Discussion: Ethical Issues and Analysis
Conclusion
6.Reproductive Technology and the Quest for Offspring
Ethics at the Intersection of Technology and Procreation
Setting the Context: The Science of Reproductive Technologies
Discussion: Ethical Issues and Analysis
Case Studies in Assisted Reproduction
Beyond Assisted Reproduction: Ethics and Prenatal Testing
7.Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Human Cloning, and Regenerative Medicine
What Cost a Cure?
Setting the Context: The Science and Politics of Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning
The Science of Human Cloning
U.S. Public Policy, Human Cloning, and Stem Cell Research
Discussion: Ethical Issues and Analysis
Conclusion
8.Current and Future Applications of Genomic Technologies
"Quest for Humanity's Blueprint": Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications
Setting the Context: The Science of Genes and Genomics
A Cautionary Tale: The Slippery Slope to Eugenics
Discussion: Ethical Issues and Analysis
Beyond Testing: Gene Therapy and Genetic Enhancement
Conclusion
9.Medical Research on Humans and the Pharmaceutical/Device Industry
Balancing Scientific Inquiry and Human Dignity
Setting the Context: Basic Concepts and Definitions in Research on Human Beings
Individual versus Social Good
Discussion: Ethical Issues and Analysis
Human Research: The Protocol
Conflict of Interests
Conclusion
10.Forgoing Treatment at the End of Life
An Ethically Complex Issue
Setting the Context: Framework for Decisions to Forego Treatment
Discussion: Ethical Issues and Analysis
Conclusion
11.Rethinking End-of-Life Care
Introduction
Setting the Context: Health Care at the End of Life
Discussion: Ethical Issues and Analysis
Conclusion
12.Health Care Reform
Health Care Reform and Human Well-Being
Setting the Context: Why Health Care Reform is Vital
Discussion: Ethical Issues and Analysis
Three Assumptions That Can Guide Health Care Reform
Conditions Creating the Need for Health Care Reform
Seeking Excellence in Health Care: New Rules for the Twenty-First Century Health System
Conclusion
Glossary
Index