Description: Based on the author's extensive training in both religious and philosophical ethics as well as the medical sciences, this brief summary of the issues of biomedical ethics provides a balanced, systematic, unbiased framework designed to help readers understand and analyze a wide range of topics that are currently controversial in medicine -- or that are likely to arise in the future. Broad in scope, it explores many alternative ethical approaches to health care decision making (not just Hippocratic ethics) -- drawn from various religious and secular traditions, including those of non-western cultures such as Asian religious and secular traditions. Includes case studies. Topics include the history of codes of ethics; the definition of death, abortion, animal rights and welfare; problems in deciding what will benefit patients; confidentiality, truth-telling, informed consent; the care of the terminally ill; genetics, birth technologies; and problems of social ethics, including resource allocation, organ transplant, and human subjects research. For health professionals and lay people who want a brief introduction to the biomedical ethical issues.

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