Customer Reviews

Ethical Issues in Neurology

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This excellent book is a combination primer on medical ethics and specific treatment of a number of issues encountered in neurologic practice. The first 5 chapters of the book are an overview of medical ethics that is conventional, very well organized, and written clearly. This section is an excellent sumaary that can be read by virtually all physicians. The next 4 chapters cover issues related to death and dying, again, these chapters can be read profitably by all physicians and are of excellent quality. The remainder of the book is devoted to a series of chapters that probably concern neurologists more than most other physicians, brain death, persistent vegetative states, states of profound paralysis with preserved cognition. These chapters are also excellent.
This book is informed by Bernat's dual training in moral philosophy and the fact that he is an active clinician. His approach exemplifies an effort to bring theoretical moral concerns to bear on real clinical problems. All chapters are written clearly and have extensive, recently updated bibliographies. The issues discussed in this book are the concrete practical problems we encounter often as physicians. Bernat's approach is thoughtful and fair, even when discussing controversial issues such as assisted suicide.
I recommend this book strongly to all neurologists. This is a volume that you should own. Other physicians will find this book useful as a reference source on the specific neurologic topics and the introductory chapters are an excellent general introduction to medical ethics.