A Casebook of Medical Ethics

This volume provides a set of case studies - drawn from a variety of specialities - that accurately portray the factual and moral dimensions of ethical issues arising in the clinical practice of medicine. Analysis of such cases plays a critical role in the study of medical ethics, and the cases presented here are intended to fully represent the rich medical and psychosocial complexity of real situations.;Most of the cases are drawn from the authors' direct clinical experience during the last decade. Among the moral issues they demonstrate are conflicts between respect for parents' wishes and concern for their well-being; tensions between duties to an incapacitated patient and obligation to family members' differing viewpoints; disputes involving medical research; and opposing interests among physicians, patients, concerned third parties and the general public.;Commentaries at the end of each chapter offer specific analyses of the cases, defining different conceptual frameworks for resolving moral dilemmas while inviting readers to assess the comparative merits and liabilities of these approaches.