Catholic Medical Ethics: Core Reading [Paperback]

Patrick Guinan (Author, Compiler), Ted Jagielo (Compiler)

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: 1st Book Library (December 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158500801X
• ISBN-13: 978-1585008018
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,765,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Catholic Medical Ethics: Core Readings, April 10, 2000

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patrick guinan (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Catholic Medical Ethics: Core Reading (Paperback)

CATHOLIC MEDICAL ETHICS: CORE READINGS

1st Books Library

Patrick Guinan, MD and Ted Jagielo, MD, Editors

Catholic Medical Ethics: Core Readings in an anthology of articles on medical ethics from a Catholic perspective. The book contains fifteen articles which are aimed at covering a gamut of philosophical and clinical issues in medical ethics. Much of the material is drawn from articles previously printed in The Linacre Quarterly. The introductory papers are aimed at an indoctrination in the theological and philosophical background of medical practice. Pope John Paul II's allocution to the International Congress of Catholic Physicians establishes the tone of basic human rights. Father Stanley Jaki's erudite and comprehensive consideration of the Purpose of Healing,is augmented by an original article on the Physician as Teacher and Prophet by Rev. Jerome Listecki, Moral Theologian.

There are three organizational statements in the book: the statement on Sex Education from the National Federation of Catholic Physicians' Guilds, a pastoral statement on Condom Distribution by the New York Bishops and statement on the Ethics of Gene Therapy by the Catholic Union of Great Britain. The NFCPG statement has received wide distribution as the seminal article on education for wholesome chastity. The New York Bishops' statement presents a bold Catholic witness against the background of a hostile political situation in the Empire State. The British statement which was a submission to the committee on the Ethics of Gene Therapy is unfortunately quite superficial perhaps as the result of the constraints imposed by that Committee.

The articles by Kieth Crutcher on Fetal Research and by Kristine Severyn on Abortifacient Contraception are comprehensive and didactic and of practical value to students. The papers by Msgr. Cormac Burke on Marriage and Contraception and by Father John Bamberger on the Mystery of Suffering are largely theological in background and exhortative in tone. They provide important messages to the medical student who arrives with the constricted view imposed by the scientific emphasis of pre-medical curricula.

The article by Dr. Joanne Angelo on Psychiatric Sequelae of Abortion will be familiar to Catholic Medical Society members who are acquainted with her empathetic clinical approach. Dr. Angelo's article is also noteworthy for being the only article in this volume which was written by an M.D. The excessive reliance on clergy and Ph.D.s from the basic sciences could be the basis for a criticism of the content of the book.

Some subjects such as euthanasia are treated at length, others such as sterilization are omitted entirely. Controversial subjects such as food and drink for the terminally ill are not treated in depth although Bishop Myers' Instruction for Health Care Administrators does allude to the subject from a pastoral viewpoint. Artificial reproduction in the light of Donum Vitae is another matter which would have been a valuable addition to the book. This subject is given a brief consideration in the aforementioned British paper in genetic ethics.

This book deserves wide distribution among medical students and is also quite appropriate as an addition to the bioethics shelf of practitioners and academics.

-Eugene Diamond, MD 11055 S. St. Louis Avenue Chicago, IL 60655 Fax [phone]