Health Care Ethics

Dr. Harold W. Baillie is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Scranton. He has been a visiting professor at a variety of international universities, including the University of Trnava, Slovakia, the State Medical University in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, and Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China. Domestically, he has been a visiting professor at the Yale University School of Medicine, and Ashland University. He is a co-author of the book Health Care Ethics: Principles and Problems, and co-editor, and contributing author, of Is Human Nature Obsolete? Genetics, Bioengineering and the Human Condition, from The MIT Press. He has authored articles on subjects ranging from healthcare ethics to metaphysics and political philosophy, and currently works as a medical ethics consultant with several local health care facilities. He received his A.B. from Yale University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Boston College. John F. McGeehan, MD, is the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Admissions at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU). Prior to joining CMSRU, Dr. McGeehan participated in the development of another new medical school, The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, PA. where, among many roles, he was course director for The Profession of Medicine in which he taught medical ethics. He has also been a course director at Temple University School of Medicine, and was Director of Medical Education and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Mercy Hospital in Scranton. Dr. McGeehan received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital. He created the Ethics Committee at Mercy Hospital in Scranton which he chaired for many years and currently is on the Ethics Committee at Cooper University Hospital where he does ethics consults.

In this Section:
1. Brief Table of Contents

2. Full Table of Contents

1. Brief Table of Contents

Part 1: Principles of Health Care Ethics

Chapter 1: Ethics, Professional Ethics, and Health Care Ethics

Chapter 2: Principles of Autonomy and Informed Consent

Chapter 3: Principles of Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

Chapter 4: The Ethics of Distribution

Chapter 5: Principles of Confidentiality and Truthfulness

Part 2: PROBLEMS OF HEALTH CARE ETHICS

Chapter 6: Professional Standards and Institutional Ethics

Chapter 7: Ethical Problems of Death and Dying

Chapter 8: Abortion and Maternal-Fetal Conflict

Chapter 9: New Methods of Reproduction

Chapter 10: The Ethics of Transplants

Chapter 11: The Ethics of Testing and Screening

Chapter 12: The Ethics of Biomedical Research




2. Full Table of Contents

Part 1: Principles of Health Care Ethics

Chapter 1: Ethics, Professional Ethics, and Health Care Ethics

Theories of Ethics

Key issues

Applied Ethics

The Professions and Professional Ethics

The Health Care Professions

Summary

Chapter 2: Principles of Autonomy and Informed Consent

General Formulation

Patient Autonomy: Informed Consent

Paternalism: Weak and Strong

The Consent of Children, Adolescents, and Incompetent Patients

Exceptions in Emergencies

The Right to Refuse Treatment

Problems Areas

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Chapter 3: Principles of Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

Introduction

Specifications of Beneficence

Specifications of Nonmaleficence

The Patient’s Obligation

The Health Care Provider’s Obligation

The Surrogate’s Obligation

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Chapter 4: The Ethics of Distribution

Introduction

A Definition of Health and Disease

Theories and Their Limits

Microallocation: Individual and Institutional Rationing

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Chapter 5: Principles of Confidentiality and Truthfulness

Introduction

Truthfulness

Confidentiality

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Part 2: PROBLEMS OF HEALTH CARE ETHICS

Chapter 6: Professional Standards and Institutional Ethics

Introduction

Judging Quality

The Obligation to Police

Institutional Ethics

Ethics Committees

Competition and Institutional Ethics

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Chapter 7: Ethical Problems of Death and Dying

Introduction

Ethics of the Patient

Health Care Providers and the Ethics of the Death of a Patient

Physician Initiatives

Cooperation with Active Suicide and Euthanasia

Surrogates and the Termination of Treatment

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Chapter 8: Abortion and Maternal-Fetal Conflict

Introduction

Does the Fetus Have Rights: U.S. Law

The Definition and Types of Abortion

The Moral Status of the Fetus

The Autonomy of the Pregnant Woman

The Ethics of Abortion as a Social Phenomenon

Abortion and the Health Care Provider

Maternal-Fetal Conflict

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Chapter 9: New Methods of Reproduction

Introduction

Artificial Insemination and the General Problem of Assisted Reproduction

In Vitro Fertilization

Surrogate Mothers

The Charge of Artificiality

The Ethics of the Health Care Provider

A Question of Distributive Justice

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Chapter 10: The Ethics of Transplants

Introduction

The Ethics of Organ Donation

The Ethics of the Recipient

The Ethics of the Health Care Team

The Health Care Provider’s Ethics of Distribution

The Society’s Ethics of Distribution

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Chapter 11: The Ethics of Testing and Screening

Introduction

Testing

Ethical Problems of Mass Screening

Summary

Cases for Analysis

Chapter 12: The Ethics of Biomedical Research

Introduction

The Ethics of the Researcher

The Ethics of the User of Research Results

Fetal Research

Genetic Therapy

Reproductive and Therapeutic Cloning

Summary

Cases for Analysis