How far is too far? 60 cases illustrating modern bioethical dilemmas Bioethics for Beginners maps the giant dilemmas posed by new technologies and medical choices, using 60 cases taken from our headlines, and from the worlds of medicine and science. This eminently readable book takes it one case at a time, shedding light on the social, economic and legal side of 21st century medicine while giving the reader an informed basis on which to answer personal, practical questions. Unlocking the debate behind the headlines, this book combines clear thinking with the very latest in science and medicine, enabling readers to decide for themselves exactly what the scientific future should hold.  

Table of Contents:
Preface xi Acknowledgements xv Caution 1 Tip-Toe When Walking on the Bleeding Edge 1 Case 1 The Dangers of Creating Life in the Lab 1 Case 2 Design: More Intelligent Every Day 3 Case 3 “Shroom” Science: Safe and Effective? 4 Case 4 A Robot Code of Ethics 6 Case 5 No More Periods, Period 8 Case 6 Search Me, Shape Me, Any Way You Want Me 10 Case 7 A Bloody Mess 11 Case 8 Stem Cells: The Goo of Life and the Debate of the Century 14 Caution 2 Everybody Lies 17 Case 9 Lies, Damn Lies . . . and Scientific Misconduct 17 Case 10 Conflict of Interest Means Business at NIH 18 Case 11 While You’re Here, How about a Spinal Tap? 21 Case 12 Study Subject or Human Guinea Pig? 22 Case 13 The New Tuskegee: Exploiting the Poor in Clinical Trials 23 Case 14 Salt in the Wound: Will India Rise up Against the Oppression of Foreign Clinical Trials? 26 Case 15 Dr. Hwang and the Bad Apple Theory of Scientific Misconduct 27 Caution 3 The Genome Isn’t What It Used to Be 34 Case 16 Becoming Genomic: Just What Does it Mean Anyway? 34 Case 17 Enhancement Comes from Insecurity 36 Case 18 Wearing Genes from the Gulf War 37 Caution 4 Reproduce at Your Own Peril 40 Case 19 Tomorrow’s Child: Making Babies in the Twenty-First Century 40 Case 20 An Argument against Human Cloning 42 Case 21 Two Genetic Moms: High-Tech Trouble or Double the Love? 49 Case 22 Grave Robbing the Cradle 51 Case 23 Baby Banking 53 Case 24 Cash Strapped American Fertility Docs Cry Out for Mercy 54 Caution 5 Don’t Sweat the Nano-Sized Stuff 57 Case 25 “Nanoethics”: The ELSI of Twenty-First-Century Bioethics? 57 Case 26 The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 62 Case 27 The Merging of Man and Machine 64 Case 28 My Eye’s on You 66 Caution 6 The State Will Protect Your Health Right Up Until It Doesn’t 69 Case 29 Has the Spread of HPV Vaccine Marketing Conveyed Immunity to Common Sense? 69 Case 30 Is the New Cigarette a Smoking Gun? Eclipse Unethical, Unregulated Research 71 Case 31 “Universal” Healthcare: A Long Way Off 73 Case 32 Newborn Screening with a Twist 75 Case 33 HIV Testing Must Be Routine 76 Case 34 Re-creating Flu: A Recipe for Disaster 78 Case 35 Pandemic Influenza Requires Trust in Government Healthcare 79 Case 36 A Hostile Environment for Environmental Protection Documents 82 Case 37 To Quarantine or Not to Quarantine, Is That the Question? 83 Caution 7 “Do No Harm” Has Become “Care for Yourself” 86 Case 38 Medicine Is Not a Steel Mill 86 Case 39 Does Your Doctor Have Skeletons? Good Luck Finding Them 87 Case 40 Medicine’s Dirty Laundry 89 Case 41 Dr. Koop: Meet Dr. Ethics 91 Case 42 Organ Donation: Why Isn’t There an App for That? 94 Case 43 Docu-Medical Shows Lack Reality 95 Caution 8 You Aren’t Dead Until Someone Tells You So 98 Case 44 Redefining Retirement: Beyond Rest and Recreation 98 Case 45 Medicare Is Going South: What Do We Owe the Aging? 99 Case 46 The Fight to Die Well: We Will Expect More from Death Than Our Ancestors Did 100 Case 47 The Case of the Body Snatchers 102 Case 48 A Few Conclusions from the Terri Schiavo Case 104 Case 49 Living Wills Save Money? Dude, Did You Really Say That Out Loud? 106 Case 50 The Plural of Anecdote Is Not Ambien 107 Caution 9 Eat Only Food for Thought 110 Case 51 Fat in America 110 Case 52 Breakfast for Thought 111 Case 53 Want Fish? Ethics First, Please 113 Case 54 Dying for Food 115 Caution 10 Beware of Ideologues and Demagogues 117 Case 55 Bioethics for Christians, Corporate Whores, and Atheists 117 Case 56 Pharma Owns Bioethics (and Other Fables) 120 Case 57 The Kevorkianization of Cloning 123 Case 58 Not in the Bush Leagues Anymore 125 Case 59 Professor Hurlbut, Your 15 Minutes Are Up 128 Case 60 The Heady Days of Proposition 71: Stem Cell Research in the California Sun 139 Conclusion: Move Slowly and Stay Cool 146 A Hot and Cold Running Genius 146 Science Must Slow Its Speed 148 Sources and Credits 150 Index 160