Issues in Biomedical Ethics (Contemporary Issues)

Examines some of the ethical questions raised by the capabilities of modern science, in such areas as health care allocation, the hastening of a patient's death, the use of animals in research, and the altering of human genes.

Grade 7-10-A look at differing opinions on some of the longest lasting controversies in medicine. How limited health care resources should be allocated, physician-assisted suicide, the use of animals in medical research, and genetic engineering are discussed. The full range of opinions common to these topics is expressed with a substantial use of quotes. These different points of view originated in books and periodicals published in the late 1980s and 1990s. Ethicists, physicians, researchers, and people with strong emotional investment in promoting or halting a particular biomedical activity all contribute to the debates. These issues are discussed in many other works including Margaret O. Hyde and Elizabeth H. Forsyth's Medical Dilemmas (Putnam, 1990; o.p.), which lacks the friendlier format and eye-relieving black-and-white photographs and cartoons of this title. The same is true of Biomedical Ethics (Greenhaven, 1994) and Daniel Jussim's Medical Ethics (Messner, 1990). While no one book can provide the last word on such volatile issues, Yount's inclusion of an annotated list of organizations to contact and lengthy bibliography offer a number of extended research suggestions.
Ann G. Brouse, Big Flats Branch Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 6^-9. This title in the Contemporary Issues series explores the pros and cons of several controversial biomedical ethics issues including assisted suicide, the use of animals in medical research, genetic engineering, and cloning. The straightforward but dry text presents an in-depth, objective study of this most relevant subject. Basic historical background information is provided, giving the reader a solid starting point for thought and discussion. Black-and-white photographs and cartoons taken from magazines and journals add visual appeal, and the extensive use of quotations from a wide variety of resources adds to the book's authority. A glossary, list of related organizations, bibliography round out the treatment. A useful tool for fulfilling homework assignments or preparing debates. April Judge