Health care ethics: Theological foundations, contemporary issues and controversial cases / Michael R. Panicola [and three others]

1. Understanding ethics and how we approach ethical decisions -- 2. The bases for our decisions and the role of discernment -- 3. Professionalism and the patient-physician relationship -- 4. Abortion and maternal-fetal care -- 5. Care of critically ill newborns -- 6. Reproductive technology and the quest for offspring -- 7. Embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and regenerative medicine -- 8. Current and future applications of genomic technologies -- 9. Medical research on humans and the pharmaceutical/device industry -- 10. Forgoing treatment at the end of life -- 11. Rethinking end-of-life care -- 12. Health care reform.

In their thought-provoking and insightful revised introductory ethics text, authors Michael Panicola, David Belde, John Slosar, and Mark Repenshek address complex and controversial health care issues that are very much a part of our everyday lives. Using a normative framework, the authors incorporate specific issues, case studies, and multimedia aides in each chapter to encourage students to engage in moral discourse and reflection. The authors' stimulating faith-based discussion of how particular circumstances in society have an impact on ethical decision making is a significant contribution to our understanding of the complex relationship between health care issues and ethics. Linking new material, including chapters on the patient-physician relationship, regenerative medicine, the pharmaceutical/device industry, and health care reform, to classic chapters on reproductive technology, abortion and maternal-fetal care, stem cell research, genomic technologies, and end-of-life care, the authors underscore the important real-life concerns and issues that confront people in their daily living and the need to discern these concerns and issues with the goal of attaining human and social flourishing. Key additions to the revised text include a glossary; updated facts, figures, tables, and statistics; new case studies; chapter discussion questions, including social-ethics questions; and social analysis.