Biomedical Ethics [Paperback]

Today, advances in medicine and biotechnology occur at a rapid pace and have a profound impact on our lives. Mechanical devices can sustain an injured person's life indefinitely. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the body and brain can reveal disorders before symptoms appear. Genetic testing of embryos can predict whether people will have diseases earlier or later in life. It may even become possible to clone human beings. These and other developments raise difficult ethical questions.
Biomedical Ethicsis an engaging philosophical introduction to the most important ethical positions and arguments in six areas of biomedicine: the patient-doctor relationship, medical research on humans, reproductive rights and technologies, genetics, medical decisions at the end of life, and the allocation of scarce medical resources. Concisely capturing the historical, contemporary, and future-oriented aspects of the field, author Walter Glannon discusses both perennial issues in medicine, such as doctors' duties to patients, and recent and emerging issues in scientific innovation, including gene therapy and cloning. Ideal for undergraduate courses in contemporary moral problems, introduction to ethics, and introduction to bioethics,Biomedical Ethicsis accessible to students who have little or no background in ethical theory, medicine, or biotechnology.

Each chapter opens with an Introduction and ends with a Conclusion and Selected Readings.
Preface
1. History and Theories
The Need for Theories
Consequentialism and Deontology
Virtue Ethics and Feminist Ethics
Communitarianism and Liberalism
The Rejection of Theories: Casuistry and Cultural Relativism
2. The Patient-Doctor Relationship
Informed Consent
Therapeutic Privilege
Confidentiality
Cross-Cultural Relations
What Sort of Doctors Do We Need?
3. Medical Reseals3