Advance Directives and Surrogate Decision Making in Health Care: United States, Germany, and Japan

Sass, Hans-Martin, Dr. (Editor), and Kimura, Rihito, Professor (Editor), and Veatch, Robert M (Editor)

ISBN 10: 0801858313 / ISBN 13: 9780801858314

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998

Fine. No dust jacket as issued. near-fine. 328 p. Seller Inventory # Alibris4675

Synopsis:

"The objective of this transnational, transdisciplinary study was not to predict the future. Much less was it to determine which culture has the best legal, public policy, and ethical systems. Rather, it was to understand the systems--their similarities and differences--and their implications for shaping the public policies that will shape the legal and medical world to come."--from the introduction

Advance directives to determine the care of terminally ill patients have revolutionized health care decision making. But writing a directive that accomplishes exactly what a patient wants can be a difficult process and can be ethically controversial. While Americans, deeply immersed in Western liberal political philosophy, have an intuitive attraction to advance directives, other cultures do not. In this volume, an international team of experts examines the controversy surrounding advance directives in three countries: the United States, Germany, and Japan. Within each section, the subjects are addressed from the points of view of clinicians, legal experts, and bioethicists. The authors find that the United States and Japan are at opposite ends of a spectrum of opinion regarding patient autonomy, whereas Germany falls somewhere between.

About the Author:

Hans-Martin Sass is professor of philosophy at Georgetown University. Robert M. Veatch is professor of medical ethics and the director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Rihito Kimura is professor of bioethics and law at Georgetown University.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Advance Directives and Surrogate Decision ...
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication Date: 1998
Binding: Hard cover
Condition: As New
Edition: Illustrated.