This book is intended to serve as a practical introduction to ethical issues that doctors and other healthcare professionals may encounter in their practice. The book is divided into three sections on ethical foundations, clinical ethics and medicine and society. It includes chapters on topics such as theories of medical ethics, cultural aspects of medicine, genetic dilemmas, ageing, dementia and mortality, research ethics, justice and healthcare, and medicine, ethics and medical law . It covers issues relating to the beginning and end of life, as well as ethical issues relating to the human body and the use of human tissue, confidentiality and AIDS, mental health care and the implications of genetic technology. Each chapter presents a range of ethical views, drawing on both traditional philosophical responses and recent contemporary responses. The theoretical discussion is expanded and illustrated with case studies and examples. This book is a guide to ethics, written with the needs of medical students and doctors in mind.
