Health Care Ethics

What was already a stellar theological compendium of health care ethics a decade ago has been fully revised to meet the challenges of a new century, from the genome project, adult and embryonic stem cell research and genetic therapies to new controversies over end-of-life care. Clearly rooted in the Catholic, natural law and personalist traditions, it astutely weighs diverse opinions within Catholicism, as well as alternative approaches from other Christian and non-religious thinkers ... A treasure. -- John F. Kavanaugh, SJ, Director of Ethics Across the Curriculum, Saint Louis University This is the most thorough revision to date of Ashley and O'Rourke's classic analysis of Catholic health care ethics. For Catholics 'doing' health care ethics or those wanting to understand Catholic thinking on foundational and controversial issues in health care it is an invaluable reference and should be in every library. Adding Jean deBlois as a third author brings a critical and new voice to this volume. -- Carol R. Taylor, CSFN, RN, Center for Clinical Bioethics, Georgetown University

A comprehensive study of significant issues affecting health care and the ethics of health care from the perspective of Catholic theology. It helps Christian, and especially Catholic, health care professionals solve concrete problems in terms of principles rooted in scripture and tested by individual experience."Health Care Ethics" is a comprehensive study of significant issues affecting health care and the ethics of health care from the perspective of Catholic theology. It aims to help Christian, and especially Catholic, health care professionals solve concrete problems in terms of principles rooted in scripture and tested by individual experience; however, its basis in real medical experience makes this book a valuable resource for anyone with a general interest in health care ethics. This fifth edition, which includes important contributions by Jean deBlois, C.S.J., considers everyday ethical questions and dilemmas in clinical care and deals more deeply with issues of women's health, mental health, sexual orientation, artificial reproduction, and the new social issues in health care. The authors devote special attention to the various ethical theories currently in use in the United States while clearly presenting a method of ethical decision making based in the Catholic tradition. They discuss the needs of the human person, outlining what it means to be human, both as an individual and as part of a community. This volume has been significantly updated to include new discussions of recent clinical innovations and theoretical issues that have arisen in the field: the Human Genome Project; efforts to control sexual selection of infants; efforts to genetically modify the human genotype and phenotype; the development of palliative care as a medical specialty; the acceptance of non-heart beating persons as organ donors; embryo development and stem cell research; reconstructive and cosmetic surgery; nutrition and obesity; medical mistakes; the negative effects of managed care on the patient-physician relationship; and, recent papal allocution regarding care of patients in a persistent vegetative state and palliative care for dying patients.