Drawing The Line: Life, Death, and Ethical Choices in an American Hospital

In Drawing the Line, philosopher Samuel Gorovitz examines the ethical questions that permeate the daily lives of medical professionals: Who should be making life and death decisions? How should scarce medical resources be allocated? What rules should govern the use of fetal tissues in research? Where should we draw the line?

The questions are rooted in the author's seven-week observation of events at Boston's Beth Israel hospital. Gorovitz shares with readers an intense, disturbing, and insightful account of operating rooms, intensive care units, surgeons' meetings, and administrative discussions of competition in the health-care market. His unusual look at contemporary health care combines startling reality with the provocative reflections of a highly respected philosopher.

Samuel Gorovitz is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Philosophy at Syracuse University. He is also the author of the widely hailed Doctors' Dilemmas.