Critical Issues in Bioethics

Clinical ethics is a relatively new discipline within medicine, generated not so much by the "Can we...?" questions of fact and prognosis that physicians usually address, but primarily by the more uncomfortable gray areas having to do with "Should we...?" questions: Should we use a feeding tube for Mom? How should we deal with our baby about to be born with life-threatening anomalies? Should our son be taken off dialysis, even though he'll die without it? What should we do with our mentally ill sister, who has proven that she is untreatable? In this book Robert Orr draws on his extensive medical knowledge and experience to offer a wealth of guidance regarding real-life dilemmas in clinical ethics. Replete with instructive case studies, Medical Ethics and the Faith Factor is an invaluable resource that reintroduces the human element to a discussion so often detached from the very people it claims to concern.

This timely volume clearly lays out the central ethical questions raised by today's rapid advances in biotechnology. James Peterson sorts through the maze of clinical decisions occasioned by human genetic intervention, organizing the range of moral considerations that now face us and exploring their practical impact on individuals, families, and communities. / The ethical question are covered in the order of how soon the particular technologies that raise them are becoming available. This unique format allows readers to go directly to issues of particular interest. Peterson assumes no prior knowledge of genetics or ethics, making his work one of the most accessible discussions of bioethics available today.