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The Oxford Handbook of Ethics at the End of Life

Online ISBN:
9780199983643
Print ISBN:
9780199974412
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

The Oxford Handbook of Ethics at the End of Life

Stuart J. Youngner (ed.),
Stuart J. Youngner
(ed.)
Bioethics, Case Western Reserve University
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Stuart J. Youngner is the Susan E. Watson Professor of Bioethics and Chair of the Department of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He has written and spoken extensively about definitions of death, organ and tissue transplantation, end‐of‐life decisions, and clinical ethics consultation.

Robert M. Arnold (ed.)
Robert M. Arnold
(ed.)
Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
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Robert Arnold, MD, Professor of Medicine, UPMC Montefiore Hospital

Published online:
2 September 2014
Published in print:
25 October 2016
Online ISBN:
9780199983643
Print ISBN:
9780199974412
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

This handbook explores the topic of death and dying from the late twentieth to the early twenty-first centuries, with particular emphasis on the United States. In this period, technology has radically changed medical practices and the way we die as structures of power have been reshaped by the rights claims of African Americans, women, gays, students, and, most relevant here, patients. Respecting patients’ values has been recognized as the essential moral component of clinical decision making. Technology’s promise has been seen to have a dark side: it prolongs the dying process. For the first time in history, human beings have the ability to control the timing of death. With this ability comes a responsibility that is awesome and inescapable. How we understand and manage this responsibility is the theme of this volume. The book has six sections. Section I examines how the law has helped shape clinical practice, emphasizing the roles of rights and patient autonomy. Section II focuses on specific clinical issues, including death and dying in children, continuous sedation as a way to relieve suffering at the end of life, and the problem of prognostication in patients who are thought to be dying. Section III considers psychosocial and cultural issues. Section IV discusses death and dying among various vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and persons with disabilities. Section V deals with physician-assisted suicide and active euthanasia (lethal injection). Finally, Section VI looks at hospice and palliative care as ways to address the psychosocial and ethical problems of death and dying.

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