Smart Mice, Not So Smart People: An Interesting and Amusing Guide to Bioethics / Edition 1

by Arthur L. Caplan NYU Langone Medical Cente

Overview

What do you think about cloning, stem cell research, brain enhancement, or doing experiments on newly dead patients? Read Smart Mice, Not so Smart People and you'll know what Art Caplan thinks. But this assortment of pithy, provocative opinions on all things bioethical does more than simply give you a piece of the author's mind—it also invites and even dares you to make up your own mind. In his typical style, Caplan—one of the most sought-after bioethicists of our time—provokes discussion on issues at the center of the new genetics, cloning in the laboratory and in the media, stem cell research, experiments on human subjects, blood donation and organ transplantation, and healthcare delivery. Are new developments in these areas good or bad? As an engaged citizen in a democratic society, it is your responsibility to decide. This book will help you do it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742541719
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/14/2006
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.32(w) x 9.36(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Arthur L. Caplan is one of the most sought after bioethicists of our time. The recipient of many awards and honors, he was named USA Today's Person of the Year for 2001, one of the fifty most influential people in American health care by Modern Health Care magazine, and one of the ten most influential people in America in biotechnology by the National Journal. Caplan is a frequent guest and commentator for National Public Radio, Nightline, CNN, Fox, CBS, the New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, and many other media outlets. Caplan has authored or edited twenty-five books and more than 500 articles, and writes a regular bioethics column for MSNBC.com. He is Emmanuel and Robert Hart Professor of Bioethics, Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics, and Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Is America Going to Hell? Part 2 Part I: General Interest Chapter 3 Duty versus Conscience Chapter 4 The Ethics of Brain Imaging Chapter 5 Has Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Gone Too Far? Chapter 6 Ethical Lessons From the Flu Bug Chapter 7 The Colonel Kicks the Habit Chapter 8 Shame on Jeb Bush Chapter 9 Stark Raving Madness Part 10 Part II: End of Life Chapter 11 Million Dollar Baby Chapter 12 Physician-Assisted Suicide in Oregon Chapter 13 Lessons From Terri Schiavo Part 14 Part III: Engineering Ourselves Chapter 15 Is Cosmetic Surgery Always Vain? Chapter 16 Face-off over Gene Foods Chapter 17 Heightened Questions about Growth Hormone Chapter 18 Brain Enhancement Chapter 19 Seasonale: Medicine For the Sake of Convenience? Chapter 20 Raffy and the Trouble with Steroids Chapter 21 When Steroids and Politics Mix Chapter 22 ANDi the Florescent Monkey Part 23 Part IV: Engineering Plants, Microbes, and Animals Chapter 24 Are Genetically Modified Foods Fit for a Dog? Chapter 25 Miss Cleo, Meet "CC," the Kitty Clone Chapter 26 Whipping Up the Avian Flu Chapter 27 Should Scientists Create New Life? Chapter 28 Smart Mice, Not-So-Smart People Part 29 Part V: Experimentation Ethics Chapter 30 Testing Biological and Chemical Weapons: Any Volunteers? Chapter 31 Lawsuits Are Not the Answer Chapter 32 Commercial Concerns Should Take a Backseat to Public Awareness Chapter 33 Research Ban at Hopkins a Sign of Ethical Crisis Chapter 34 Research on the Newly Dead Chapter 35 Will We Ever Debunk Our Mythology about Human Subjects Research? Part 36 Part VI: Health Reform Chapter 37 Cause Célèbre Chapter 38 Cheap Drugs Are Not the Answer to the African AIDS Crisis—Better Infrastruction Is Chapter 39 Humility or Hubris? Chapter 40 Fiddling While the Health System Burns Chapter 41 No Coverage for Kids a Moral Failure Chapter 42 New World Calls For New Health Care Chapter 43 Our Dying Health Care System Chapter 44 The Moral Tragedy of Chronic Illness Part 45 Part VII: Human Cloning and Stem Cell Research Chapter 46 Cloning: Separating the Science from the Fiction Chapter 47 Cloning Flicks Offer a Moral Lesson Chapter 48 Embryonic Cloning Feat Points to Problems with Bush Policy Chapter 49 Korean Cloning Fraud Chapter 50 Media Bungled Clone Claim Coverage Chapter 51 Chutzpah Chapter 52 The End of the Embryonic Stem Cell Debate Part 53 Part VIII: Mapping Ourselves Chapter 54 Ethics First, Then Genetics Chapter 55 His Genes, Our Genome Chapter 56 Let's Keep Our Genome in Perspective Chapter 57 "Darwin Vindicated!" Chapter 58 Ready for the Genomic Age? Chapter 59 Unethical Policies Undermine Value of Genetic Testing Chapter 60 Who Needs Bill Gates? Part 61 Part IX: Reproduction Chapter 62 Let's Talk about Sex Chapter 63 Model Eggs Chapter 64 Soldier's Sperm Offers Biological Insurance Policy Chapter 65 Talking Reproductive Responsibility Chapter 66 Test Tube Babies versus Clones Chapter 67 The Problem With "Embryo Adoption" Chapter 68 Are You Ever Too Old to Have a Baby? Part 69 Part X: The State of Science in USA Chapter 70 Hullabaloo Over MMR Risk Misses the Point Chapter 71 If Science Becomes Politicized, Where Do We Go For Truth? Chapter 72 Is Biomedical Research Too Dangerous to Pursue? Chapter 73 Misusing the Nazi Analogy Chapter 74 How the President's Council on Bioethics Lost Its Credibility Chapter 75 Pray it Ain't So Chapter 76 Who Wins When Religion Squares Off against Science? Chapter 77 Why Are These Nuts Testifying? Part 78 Part XI: Donation and Transplantation of Organs Chapter 79 About Face Chapter 80 Restricting Blood Donations or Mad Cow the Deadlier Threat? Chapter 81 Jumping the Line Chapter 82 www.matchingdonors.com Chapter 83 Misguided Effort to Ease the Organ Shortage Chapter 84 No Excuse for Blood Donor Bias Chapter 85 Sperm Transplants Should Spur Debate Chapter 86 The Return of Fetal Tissue Transplants Chapter 87 Afterword: What Is Bioethics?

Editorial Reviews

Bioethics and the future arrived hand-in-hand, and we weren't ready. In the last two decades, the new biosciences have roared into gear, leaving a trail of unprecedented ethical and moral dilemmas like tire tracks in the road. Modern society must decide for itself on these issues, but it needs the guidance of a rare kind of person, equally conversant in science and in ethics. Art Caplan is a leader in this field, and he offers a masterful survey of our present and future challenges and dilemmas, clear accounts of the science, and incisive accounts of the risks, benefits, and range of choices in each area. After reading this book, I can think of no more knowledgeable, level-headed, or trustworthy guide than Art Caplan.

John Timpane

Bioethics is a field of inquiry only 40 years old. Arthur Caplan has emerged as its superstar and this collection of essays reveals why. Caplan is able to make sense of the latest, perplexing dilemmas created by the rush of advances in medical technology. He offers concise well written direction telling us not what to do but what we must consider in formulating our responses to these great and fascinating issues of our time.

Robert Bazell

Can you recommend a good book on bioethics for a beginner? I am often asked that question and until now I haven't had a very satisfying answer. Fortunately, Art L. Caplan has come along to save the day. His recently published book titled Smart Mice, Not So Smart People: An Interesting and Amusing Guide to Bioethics is a great introductory book which covers a stunningly wide range of topics. It is easy to read, doesn't pretend to be 'objective' and helps the reader ponder the key bioethics issues of our time.

Kathryn Hinsch

Art Caplan has written a smart, provocative book that examines medical ethics in America and the intrusion of politics on complex, scientific issues. Smart Mice, Not So Smart People is an engaging read that tackles controversial subjects ranging from tube feeding to cloning and brings them alive for the layman.

Kathleen Kerr

What should we do with the extra embryos when we make test-tube babies? Who has the right to pull the plug on dying patients? Can we clone designer children? Art Caplan, one of the liveliest, most engaging bioethicists in the country, shares his trenchant observations about the many moral dilemmas in our high-technology medical system. Entertaining and serious at the same time, most readers will find this a hard book to put down

Marcia Angell

Dr. Kaplan, as one of the most-prestigious bioethicists in the world, devotes most of his time to academic research and analysis, but this book is a light-hearted romp through the field, sure to stir everyone's pot.

Journal Of Clinical Research Best Practices

Dr. Kaplan, as one of the most-prestigious bioethicists in the world, devotes most of his time to academic research and analysis, but this book is a light-hearted romp through the field, sure to stir everyone's pot.

Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices