Global Bioethics: Issues of Conscience for the Twenty-First Century

by Ronald M. Green (Editor), Aine Donovan (Editor), Steven A. Jauss (Editor)

Overview

Medical care and biomedical research are rapidly becoming global. Ethical questions that once arose only in the narrow context of the physician-patient relationship in relatively prosperous societies are now being raised across societies, cultures, and continents. For example, what should be the "standard of care" for clinical trials of medical innovations in poorer countries? Are researchers obligated to compare new therapies or drugs with the best known ones available, or can they use as a benchmark the actual treatments (or lack of treatments) available to poor people? Should pharmaceutical companies seeking to lower the costs of new drug trials be allowed to enrol citizens of less developed countries in them even when those individuals cannot afford and will not be eligible for the resulting drugs? More generally, should the norms of medicine and research be the same across cultures or can they adapt to local social, economic, or religious conditions? Global Bioethics gathers some of the world's leading bioethicists to explore many of the new questions raised by the globalization of medical care and biomedical research. Among the topics covered are the impact of globalization on the norms of medical ethics, the conduct of international research, the ethics of international collaborations, challenges to medical professionalism in the international setting, and the relation of religion to global bioethics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191609404
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	11/06/2008
Series:	Issues in Biomedical Ethics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Ronald M. Green is Cohen Professor for the Study of Ethics and Human Values at Dartmouth Ethics Institute; Aine Donovan is Executive Director, Dartmouth Ethics Institute; Steven A. Jauss is Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors viii

Introduction 1

Part I Normative Bases 13

1 Population-Level Bioethics: Mapping a New Agenda Daniel Wikler Dan W. Brock 15

2 What Is It Like to Be a Bird? Wikler and Brock on the Ethics of Population Health Nir Eyal 37

3 The Evolving Norms of Medical Ethics Ezekiel J. Emanuel 53

4 Convergent Trends in Modern Medical Ethics: Medicine-Based Ethics and Human Rights Johannes J. M. van Delden 77

Part II Global Research Ethics 87

5 Just Research in an Unjust World: Can Harm Reduction Be an Acceptable Tool for Public Health Prevention Research? Nancy E. Kass 89

6 Harm Reduction Research: Ethics and Compliance Ana S. Iltis 117

7 Global Justice, Human Rights, and Health Ruth Macklin 141

Part III Biomedical/Bioethical Collaborations 161

8 Achieving Global Justice in Health through Global Research Ethics: Supplementing Macklin's "Top-Down" Approach with one from the "Ground Up" Eric M. Meslin 163

9 Harnessing Advanced Technologies for Global Health Equity Peter A. Singer Archana Bhatt Sarah E. Frew Heather Greenwood Jocelyn Mackie Dilnoor Panjwani Deepa L. Persad Fabio Salamanca-Buentello Béatrice Séguin Andrew D. Taylor Halla Thorsteinsdóttir Aneesa Walji Abdallah S. Daar 179

Part IV Training Professional, Ethical Physicians 205

10 American "Medical Professionalism": At Home and in the World Robert Martensen 207

11 Professionalism and Medical Education in the Developing World Kisali Pallangyo 229

Part V Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Death 241

12 Physician-Assisted Death: Not Just for Rich Countries Johannes J. M. van Delden Margaret P. Battin 243

Part VI Global Bioethics and Religion263

13 Embryo as Epiphenomenon: Some Cultural, Social, and Economic Forces Driving the Stem Cell Debate Ronald M. Green 265

14 The Role and Influence of Religions in Bioethics Denis Müet;ller 279

Part VII Public Global Bioethics Consultations 295

15 Global Norms, Informed Consensus, and Hypocrisy in Bioethics John Harris 297

16 Global Norms in Bioethics: Problems and Prospects Fran&ccidle;oise Baylis 323

Index 341