Ethics In Clinical Practice

Book excerpt: Ethics in Clinical Practice, Second Edition continues to focus on multidisciplinary medicine and how ethical dilemmas affect not only doctors and patients, but also nurses, social workers, members of ethics committees, hospital attorneys, administrators, and others. Greater attention is given to care in a variety of settings and across settings. Cases reflect the managed care phenomenon and cost containment, demographic changes, the electronic revolution, and the ethical dilemmas resulting from this new climate. The revised edition discusses advances in palliative medicine and its availability, and includes new data regarding attitudes and prevalence of physician-assisted suicide. Attention is given to how issues of cost containment might directly or indirectly influence patients' end-of-life treatment options. Cases are updated to include pertinent information about medical advances and legal developments, and how ethical analysis reflects these new developments.