THE BIO-MEDICAL FIX: Human Dimensions of Bio-Medical Technologies

In Making Medical Choices (p. 1058), Jane Stein demonstrated how each breakthrough in medical technology was accompanied by unintended consequences, and she raised the ethical issues involved in those particular cases and in future medical science policies. The Bio-Medical Fix deals with some of the same issues, focusing on three areas--computer diagnosis, genetic engineering, artificial kidneys--in a less stirring examination. Ellison documents the formidable dilemmas (life & death decisions, quality-of-life judgments) asks the pertinent questions (should dialysis-machine technicians have the right to strike?), and repeatedly considers human factors: how care-givers feel when their job is shared with or taken over by computers. And the case histories themselves provide ample opportunities for reflection: who is responsible when an unwanted child is born after her father's vasectomy and her mother's (apparent) abortion. It's a competent text, well researched and clearly stated, but undynamic overall. Stein's is the more forceful, comprehensive treatment.