Values in Medicine

Written by a leading proponent of the philosophy and ethics of healthcare, this volume is filled with thought-provoking and frequently controversial ideas and arguments. Accessibly written, it provides readers with a timely contribution to the current literature on medical ethics, in which the concept of subjectivity is a key issue characterizing current medical humanities. Examining the critical assumption that scientifically-demonstrable facts will remove all uncertainty, the author argues that ethical dimensions of clinical practice do not always arise from undisputed facts, but that they are sometimes to be found at the level of the determinations of the facts themselves. Firmly placing the patient back on centre stage, without underestimating the crucial role which science plays in modern medicine, this volume is an excellent account of ethics and science in healthcare and their proper place in assessing and meeting people's health needs.

Professor Donald Evans, a philosopher by training, has published widely in Medical Ethics for 23 years. During that period he has directed two Bioethics Centres, one in the University of Wales and the other in the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has completed research projects for many national and international bodies and served on numerous international, regional and local ethics committees. He is currently a Vice-President of the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO and the international member of the Stem Cell Oversight Committee of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

1. What are we really doing to patients? 2. Radical disagreement and cultural dissonance 3. Mystery in Sugery 4. Equitable Health Care 5. Is infertility a health need? 6. The child's interests in assisted reproduction 7. Qualifying as a person 8. Are animals our equals? 9. Patients and research 10. Ethics, nanotechnologies and health 11. Imagination and medical education