Product Description: In Replacement Parts, internationally recognized bioethicist Arthur L. Caplan and coeditors James J. McCartney and Daniel P. Reid assemble seminal writings from medicine, philosophy, economics, and religion that address the ethical challenges raised by organ transplantation...read more

I Several years ago, when the Carter administration announced that it would support congressional action to end the public fund­ ing of abortions, the President was asked at a press conference whether he thought that such a policy was unfair; he responded, "Life is unfair." His remarks provoked a storm of controversy. For other than those who, for principled reasons, opposed abor­ tion on any grounds, it seemed that the President's comments were cruel, violating what was thought to be an American com­ mitment to providing equal access to health services to all citi­ zens, regardless of their capacity to pay. Those sentiments had, in fact, been reflected in public opinion polls that had, for at least three decades, indicated that Americans supported the propo­ sition that the government should guarantee health care to all. Ultimately, those beliefs had been translated into the oft-ex­ 1 pressed political demand for a one-class system of health care. This commitment to equality is rather remarkable. American society evidences a striking willingness to tolerate vast inequal­ ities with regard to income and wealth. While it guarantees ed­ ucation to all children, there is not even a pretense that the children of the wealthy and the children of the poor ought to get precisely the same kind of schooling. While some commitment 'Hazel Erskine. "The Polls: Health Insurance," Public Opinion Quarterly, XXXIX (Spring, 1975), 128-143.

In When Medicine Went Mad, one of the nation's leading bioethicists-and an extraordinary panel of experts and concentration camp survivors-examine problems first raised by Nazi medical experimentation that remain difficult and relevant even today. The importance of these issues to contemporary bioethical disputes-particularly in the thorny areas of medical genetics, human experimentation, and euthanasia-are explored in detail and with sensitivity.

The fate of seriously ill newborns has captured the atten­ tion of the public, of national and state legislators, and of powerful interest groups. For the most part, the debate has been cast in the narrowest possible terms: "discrimination against the handicapped"; "physician authority"; "family autonomy." We believe that something much more profound is happening: the debate over the care of sick and dying babies appears to be both a manifestation of great changes in our feelings about infants, children, and families, and a reflection of deep and abiding attitudes toward the newborn, the handi­ capped, and perhaps other humans who are "less than" nor­ mal, rational adults. How could we cast some light on those feelings and attitudes that seemed to determine silently the course of the public debate? We chose to enlist the humanities-the dis­ players and critics of our cultural forms. Rather than closing down the public discussion, we wanted to open it up, to illuminate it with the light of history, religion, philosophy, literature, jurisprudence, and humanistically oriented sociol­ ogy. This book is a first effort to place the hotly contested Baby Doe debate into a broader cultural context.

Product Description: Genetic counseling is fairly new. The fact that the field is an accepted professional enterprise in universities, clinics, and hospitals throughout the United States is remarkable. The contributors argue that genetics and medicine rest on beliefs widely held in American society...read more

An assortment of lighthearted and provocative essays about bioethics issues invites readers to formulate their own opinions about a wide variety of topics, from genetically modified foods and cloning to Mad Cow disease and advanced maternal age.

Gathers medical and legal documents, opinions from various perspectives, and a timeline of events in the Terri Shiavo case to provide a resource for examining the moral and ethical issues surrounding end-of-life decisions.

Product Description: There is no constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide says the U.S. Supreme Court. Most states have laws against it, but states can also allow it, as Oregon has done; others are considering legalization. Still very little guidance has been offered about its practice...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Examines the debate over the issues surrounding organ procurement and distribution, including the search for new sources of organs, new methods of procurement, and ways to fairly distribute organs

Product Description: "... this book is though-provoking, bringing a scientist’s reason and a moralist’s outrage to bear on a subject that’s largely escaped attention." —Wired"Caplan’s choice of topics is broad and his opinions challenging.....read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

"An important contribution to a debate that will continue for some time." ―Health and Canadian Society"Insightful and thought-provoking.... As Caplan has demonstrated so clearly... we would all be better off if the ethicists spoke first and not last." ―The Washington Post"Caplan’s views are important and instructive.... [This] book represents some of his best work." ―New England Journal of Medicine"Caplan’s [book] is thought provoking, insightful, and well argued. I recommend it highly."―The Journal of the American Medical Association"... a generously illustrated discourse on method in medical and practical ethics." ―EthicsA member of the President’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform examines some of the most controversial biomedical issues of our time.

Genetic counselors translate the findings of scientific investigation into meaningful accounts that enable individuals and families to make decisions about their lives.  This collection of original papers explores the history, values, and norms of that process, with some focus on the value of nondirectiveness in counseling practice.  The contributors; examination of genetic counseling issues serves as a foundation from which to address other ethical, legal, and policy considerations in the expanding universe of clinical genetics.

Product Description: Offers authoritative explorations of the way ethical principles involving respect for autonomy, beneficience, and justice interplay in the world of case management.

Product Description: Offers authoritative explorations of the way ethical principles involving respect for autonomy, beneficience, and justice interplay in the world of case management.

Product Description: hope of obtaining a comprehensive and coherent understand­ ing of the human condition, we must somehow weave together the biological, sociological, and psychological components of human nature and experience. And this cannot be done­ indeed, it is difficult to even make sense of an attempt to do it-without first settling our accounts with Darwin, Marx, and Freud...read more