Case Analysis in Clinical Ethics

Case Analysis in Clinical Ethics is an eclectic review from a team of leading ethicists covering the main methods for analysing ethical problems in modern medicine. Anneke Lucassen, a clinician, begins by presenting an ethically challenging genetics case drawn from her clinical experience. It is then analysed from different theoretical points of view. Each ethicist takes a particular approach, illustrating it in action and giving the reader a basic grounding in its central elements. Each chapter can be read on its own, but comparison between them gives the reader a sense of how far methodology in medical ethics matters, and how different theoretical starting points can lead to different practical conclusions. At the end, Anneke Lucassen gives a clinician's response to the various ethical methods described. Practising clinical ethicists and students on upper level undergraduate and Master's degree courses in medical ethics and applied philosophy will find this invaluable.

Table of Contents:
Notes on contributors; 1. Philosophical introduction: case analysis in clinical ethics Richard Ashcroft, Michael Parker, Marian Verkerk and Guy Widdershoven; 2. Families and genetic testing; the case of Jane and Phyllis Anneke Lucassen; 3. Family access to shared genetic information: an analysis of the narrative Brian Hurwitz; 4. A virtue ethics approach Alastair Campbell; 5. Interpretation and dialogue in hermeneutic ethics Guy Widdershoven; 6. 'Power, corruption and lies': ethics and power Richard Ashcroft; 7. Reading the genes Robert Withers; 8. A utilitarian approach Julian Savulescu; 9. A feminist care ethical approach on genetics Marian Verkerk; 10. A conversational approach to the ethics of genetic testing Michael Parker; 11. Families and genetic testing; the case of Jane and Phyllis from a four principles perspective Raanan Gillon; 12. A phenomenological approach to bioethics George Agich; 13. An empirical approach Søren Holm; 14. Response to ethical dissections of the case Anneke Lucassen; 15. Philosophical reflections Michael Parker, Richard Ashcroft, Marian Verkerk and Guy Widdershoven; Index.

About the Author :
d.o.b. 30 Jan 1969 d.o.b. 6 Oct 1958 d.o.b. 29 March 1957 d.o.b. 9 May 1954

Review :
'I found this book to be very useful for clinical practice. ... The chapter discussions on theoretical grounding are stimulating and at times challenging, but most appreciated in the way they provide insight into the application of theory to practice.' Doody's 'It takes a complex clinical case and shows how it can be analysed from different theoretical ethical perspectives ... All chapters are written clearly, even those on hermeneutic and post-structuralist analysis. This should not only enlighten, but also reassure, the clinician reader whose instinctive response to these latter approaches might be one of suspicion ... succeeds in its aim of illuminating the wide array of methods and theoretical approaches currently in use in clinical ethics. It would be of interest and value to trainees and career doctors in general and specialist practice.' Journal of The Royal Society of Medicine 'This volume is an excellent step in the general direction of grounding medical ethics in more real life experiences.' Megan Clinch, The London School of Economics