Drawing the Line

The author records his experiences during seven weeks spent at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital, observing the training of medical students. He examines such ethical questions as the right to use fetal tissue in research, the allocation of medical resources and the right to live or die.

---

Philosopher Samuel Gorovitz spent seven weeks at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital observing life at one of the nation's premier teaching hospitals. In Drawing the Line, Gorovitz provides an intense, disturbing, and insightful account of his observations during those seven weeks. He examines the ethical questions that permeate hospital life: who should be making life and death decisions - and how should they be made? How should scarce medical resources be allocated? What rules should govern the use of foetal tissue in research and treatment? Where should we draw the line, and how?