BIOETHICS AND THE NEW MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Every new technology poses new problems, according to Hastings Center visiting scholar Mabie. Should we demonstrate nonmaleficence (doing nothing) or beneficence (taking on positive duty in health crises)? Both social problems and the human need to philosophize are central to every issue, and here the range is from the beginning of life (should societies favoring males be allowed to do genetic engineering?) to its end (what medical care is appropriate in terminal illness?). This book generates good hard thinking about the possible impact of genome research; about cases when ill people win in court but die because of civil delay; and, most important, about the consequences of philosophical dichotomies. Provocative and timely. Notes; bibliography; glossary; index. (Nonfiction. 12+)