From Harry and Louise through the McCaughey septuplets, this book explains stories and issues in health care ethics that have appeared in the news media. Written for the general reader in a pluralistic society, it outlines and applies principles of justice from the Catholic tradition to contemporary problems that increasingly affect us all.

This second edition contains extensive new material and new topics, including physician-assisted suicide, managed care, organ donation, genetic testing, cloning, and the question of futility. Aimed at a wide audience, this book will also be useful for introductory ethics courses in colleges and high schools.

Kevin O'Rourke, OP, is professor emeritus and former director of the Center for Health Care Ethics at the Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center. He is co-author of Health Care Ethics: A Theological Analysis (fourth edition, 1997), Medical Ethics: Sources of Catholic Teachings (third edition,1999) and Ethics of Health Care: An Introductory Textbook (second edition, 1994), all published by Georgetown University Press.

Introduction

1. Principles and Core Values

2. Informed Consent: Personal and Proxy

3. Use and Removal of Life Support

4. Genetics

5. Organ Donation

6. Research

7. Suicide and Physician-Assisted Suicide

8. Managed Care

9. Artificial Generation

10. Special Questions