Health Care Ethics: Theological Foundations, Contemporary Issues, and Controversial Cases

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.

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