E-raamat: This Is Bioethics: An Introduction

"Imagine you were running a medical non-governmental organization (NGO) established to preserve the lives of poverty-stricken people in resource poor countries. Your NGO is also usually among the first to provide emergency assistance in case natural emergencies such as tsunamis strike. However, you did notice that agencies evaluating your efficiency1 give you a below-average ranking. That is a worry to your fundraising staff, mostly because you rely on donations and such ratings are said to impact eventually negatively, on your capacity to raise cash. You investigate what the problem is, and it turns out that the ratings agency is critical of your policy of responding mostly in cases of high-impact disasters such as earthquakes, floods or civil wars, because they invariably require a highly resource intensive intervention. The agency's verdict is that, on the same capital outlay, you could preserve more lives in developing countries if you aimed at establishing medium- to long-term health delivery solutions, including setting up primary health care facilities, beginning vaccination programs, and other such relatively low-cost means. Chartering private jets to fly emergency teams in response to disaster also preserves lives deserving to be rescued, the ratings agency says, but it demonstrably results in a substantially lower number of lives preserved than you could preserve if you dropped such actions in favor of working toward better health care delivery infrastructure in the countries you usually serve"--

Should editing the human genome be allowed? What are the ethical implications of social restrictions during a pandemic? Is it ethical to use animals in clinical research? Is prioritizing COVID-19 treatment increasing deaths from other causes? Bioethics&;is a dynamic field of inquiry that draws on interdisciplinary expertise and methodology to address normative issues in healthcare, medicine, biomedical research, biotechnology, public health, and the environment. This Is Bioethics is an ideal introductory textbook for students new to the field, exploring the fundamental questions, concepts, and issues within this rapidly evolving area of study.

Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, this accessible volume helps students consider both traditional and cutting-edge questions, develop informed and defensible answers, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a diverse range of ethical positions in medicine. The authors avoid complex technical terms and jargon in favor of an easy-to-follow, informal writing style with engaging chapters designed to stimulate student interest and encourage class discussion. The book also features a deep dive into the realm of global public health ethics, including the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It considers topics like triage decision-making, the proportionality of society's response to COVID-19, whether doctors have a professional obligation to treat COVID-19 patients, and whether vaccines for this virus should be mandatory.

A timely addition to the acclaimed This Is Philosophy &;series, This Is Bioethics is the ideal primary textbook for undergraduate bioethics and practical ethics courses, and is a must-have reference for students in philosophy, biology, biochemistry, and medicine.