medical ethics

Ideally, science would indeed be focused entirely on facts, truth, and objectivity. But the reality is different. Science cannot be separated from the human experience. As long as science is a human endeavor, it will carry with it the biases of society.

"[The author] tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process. [This book] . . . guides the reader across two thousand years of history, beginning with Cleopatra's dark deeds in ancient Egypt. The book reveals the origins of much of modern science in the transatlantic slave trade of the 1700s, as well as Thomas Edison's mercenary support of the electric chair and the warped logic of the spies who infiltrated the Manhattan Project. But the sins of science aren't all safely buried in the past. Many of them, [the author] reminds us, still affect us. We can draw direct lines from the medical abuses of Tuskegee and Nazi Germany to . . . vaccine hesitancy, and connect icepick lobotomies from the 1950s to the contemporary failings of mental-health care"--Provided by publisher.

Presents a brief overview of the issues of medical ethics, and examines a range of difficult questions--both personal and politcal--from euthanasia, to treating mental illness, and gentic testing.

Depicts the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor Southern black woman, whose cells were taken from her body without her permission during the 1950s for medical research and continue to be alive and used more than sixty years after her death. Discusses the issues of owning our own bodies and why Henrietta's family was never informed about her "immortality" for more than twenty years after she died. Includes chapter notes, photographs, and an index.

Examines the experiences of the children and husband of Henrietta Lacks, who, twenty years after her death from cervical cancer in 1951, learned doctors and researchers took cells from her cervix without consent which were used to create the immortal cell line known as the HeLa cell; provides an overview of Henrietta's life; and explores issues of experimentation on African-Americans and bioethics.

"Millions of people around the world suffer from infertility. For them, the prospect of having a baby may have seemed unattainable just a century ago. However, new technologies have not only made it possible for more people to have children but have also helped parents assess the health of their babies before they're even born. Treatments include artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and amniocentesis. However, these new treatments have also sparked controversies involving the boundaries of government control, private choice, religious belief, and parental wishes. This book helps readers explore the many sides of this complicated issue"--Amazon.

Documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling discoveries in such areas as cancer research, in vitro fertilization and gene mapping.

Briefly explores the history of reproductive technology and modern debates and controversies surrounding reproduction. Discusses the religious viewpoint, the history of eugenics, sperm and egg donation, and the ethics of genetic engineering. Includes a glossary.

Thirteen essays provide opposing arguments on issues regarding organ donation and transplants, including ethical questions, compensation for donation, the purchasing of organs, oversight of the U.S. transplant system, convicts being excluded from receiving transplants, and animal-human transplants.

Focuses on the ethics of medical testing and offers a variety of perspectives-eyewitness accounts, governmental views, scientific analysis, newspaper and magazine accounts, and many more to illuminate the issue.