Tough Decisions: Cases in Medical Ethics [Paperback]

John M. Freeman M.D. (Author), Kevin McDonnell M.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2001 | ISBN-10: 019509042X | ISBN-13: 978-0195090420 | Edition: 2

Life is full of tough decisions that must be made ethically and under the pressures of time. This book places readers in realistic situation where they experience the difficulties of making tough medical decisions. The cases are composites of actual cases the authors have seen or managed. In the role of decision-maker, the reader helps to determine what happens in the case as his or her decision often shapes the course of events and the patient's outcome. This gives a compelling sense of the pressures that bear on clinical decision-making. The authors assume that the reader wants to do the right thing, but faces the problem of determining what the right thing will be when information is necessarily incomplete and the future unknown. Ethical theory emerges as others involved in the case offer different views of what is right in a particular medical situation. Two concluding chapters discuss the major theories of medical ethics, but there are no answers in the back of the book. Instead, the book will familiarize readers with some of the ethical principles and issues critical to the practice of medicine to patients and their families.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is indispensible for young doctors, interns, and other medical staff."--The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Winter 2002

About the Author

John Freeman is at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Kevin McDonnell is at Saint Mary's College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 223 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019509042X
• ISBN-13: 978-0195090420
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and Readable, May 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Tough Decisions: Cases in Medical Ethics (Paperback)

Tough Decisions is an outstanding book made even better in this long awaited second edition.

Unlike most collections of case studies, this volume does not simply present a variety of vignettes to be analyzed and evaluated. Instead, the reader is required to actually make tough decisions and then follow up on the consequences. Decisions often lead to further decisions and then still further decisions. Different readers will thus follow different paths through the text. The situations themselves are realistically described and include multidimensional characters and well-written dialogue.

The cases will provide a rich basis for discussion if this is used as a classroom text, but this is also an engaging and readable book for anyone interested in the tough decisions faced in healthcare every day.

0 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Tough decisions in medical ethics, September 13, 2005

By 

Rachelle Woodward (Federal Way, Wa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tough Decisions: Cases in Medical Ethics (Paperback)

This book was delivered promptly and the condition was as stated in their ad. Thanks.