Beyond a Western Bioethics: Voices from the Developing World

by Angeles Tan Alora, Josephine M. Lumitao

Overview

In Beyond a Western Bioethics, physicians Angeles Tan Alora and Josephine M. Lumitao join eight other contributors to provide a comprehensive exploration of bioethical issues outside of the dominant American and western European model. Using the Philippines as a case study, they address how a developing country's economy, religion, and culture affect the bioethical landscape for doctors, patients, families, and the society as a whole.

American principles of medical ethics assume the primacy of individual autonomy, the importance of truth-telling, and secular standards of justice and morality. In the Philippines, these standards are often at odds with a culture in which family relationships take precedence over individualism, and ideas of community, friendship, and religion can deeply influence personal behavior. Pervasive poverty further complicates the equation. Contributors move from a general discussion of the moral vision informing health care decisions in the Philippines to an exploration of a wide range of specific cases: family planning, care of the elderly, organ transplants, death and dying, medical research, AIDS care, doctor-patient relationships, informed consent, and the allocation of scarce health-care resources.

Written for both students and professionals, the book provides a much-needed perspective on how medical ethics are practiced in a developing nation, and it successfully challenges the wisdom of global bioethical standards that do not account for local cultural and economic differences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878408740
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	07/20/2001
Series:	Clinical Medical Ethics series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Angeles Tan Alora, dean of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, is author of Handbook in Bioethics (Bookmark, 1999) and editor of Casebook in Bioethics (Southeast Asian Center for Bioethics, 1993).

Josephine M. Lumitao is professor and chief of the histology section of the department of anatomy at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and is secretary of the Southeast Asian Center for Bioethics.

Table of Contents

ForewordLeonardo Z. Legaspi

PrefaceEdmund D. Pellegrino

From Western to Filipino Bioethics: An Acknowledgment in Gratitude for Having Been a Colleague in a Marvelous Intellectual and Moral JourneyH. Tristam Engelhardt

Western Bioethics Recondsidered: An IntroductionH. Tristam Engelhardt

Part I: FILIPINO BIOETHICS: THE FOUNDATIONS

An Introduction to an Authenticallyy Non-Western BioethicsAngeles Tan Alora and Josephine M. Lumitao

Part II: THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY

The Family and Health Care PracticesLetty G. Kuan and Josephine M. Lumitao

The Family versus the Individual: Family PlanningAngeles Tan Alora, Danilo Tiong, and Josephine M. Lumitao

Care of the ElderlyVictoria Pusung

Part III: THE HEALTH CARE TEAM

Professional Relationships in Health CareAntonio Cabezon, OP, Edna G. Monzon, and Angelica Francisco

Conscience and Health Care Practices: The Casde of the PhilippinesLetty G. Kuan and Tamerlane Lana, OP

Honesty, Loyalty, and CheatingAngeles Tan Alora

Philanthropy and NepotismAngelica Francisco

Part IV: FACING HARD CHOICES

Ethical Issues in the Pediatric Intensive Care UnitAngeles Tan Alora and Mary Jean Villareal-Guno

AIDS in the Developing World: The Case of the PhilippinesJosephine M. Lumitao

Human Organ TransplantsDanilo C. Tiong

Death and DyingJosephine M. Lumitao

Part V: ALLOCATION AND JUSTICE

Allocation of Scarce Resources: macro-, Meso-, and Micro-Level ConcernsAngeles Tan Alora and Josephine Lumitao

Ethical Issues in ResearchAngeles Tan Alora

A Tax on Luxury Health Cae, Generic Drugs, and a Proposal for a New Preferential Option for the PoorAngeles Tan Alora

The Virtues and Vices of DumpingAngeles Tan Alora

APPENDIX/BACKGROUND READINGS

In the Compassion of Jesus: A Pastoral Letter On AIDSThe Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines

Anti-Abortive Drugs Act of 1995Tenth Congress of the Republic of the Philippines

The Patients' Rights Act of 1995Tenth Congress of the Republic of the Philippines

Code of EthicsBoard of medicine

The PhilippinesAngles Tan Alora and Josephine M. Lumitao

GlossaryContributorsIndex

What People are Saying About This

Rosemarie Tong

This book is a must-read for any bioethicist or health care professional hungry for new conceptual tools to improve bioethical reasoning and to motivate more humane health care practices and policies.

From the Publisher

"This book is a must-read for any bioethicist or health care professional hungry for new conceptual tools to improve bioethical reasoning and to motivate more humane health care practices and policies." -- Rosemarie Tong, Distinguished Professor in Health Care Ethics, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Editorial Reviews

Provides a fresh perspective on how medical ethics are developed and practiced in a developing nation. It successfully challenges the parochial wisdom of the notion of global bioethical standards. The volume argues effectively that in many situations a global bioethical standard makes no sense.

Perspectives in Biology and Medicine

This book is a must-read for any bioethicist or health care professional hungry for new conceptual tools to improve bioethical reasoning and to motivate more humane health care practices and policies.

Rosemarie Tong

"Provides a fresh perspective on how medical ethics are developed and practiced in a developing nation. It successfully challenges the parochial wisdom of the notion of global bioethical standards. The volume argues effectively that in many situations a global bioethical standard makes no sense."—Perspectives in Biology and Medicine

From the Publisher