Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Historical Dictionary of Medical Ethics (Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements Series)

Medical ethics is the disciplined study of medical morality, with two goals: critically appraising current medical morality and identifying how it should be improved. Medical morality has three components. Physicians, patients, communities, and policy makers have beliefs about what is good and bad character, and right and wrong behavior, in patient care, biomedical research, medical education, and health policy. On the basis of these beliefs, physicians, patients, communities, and policy makers make judgments about how physicians ought to conduct themselves in patient care, research, education, and the formation and implementation of health policy. They then act on their judgments. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Medical Ethics contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on ethical reasoning and its key components; medical ethics, professional medical ethics, and bioethics; and topics in clinical ethics, research ethics, and healthcare policy ethics. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about medical ethics. Review While the dictionary would be most useful for the medical practitioner, the definitions are written in nontechnical language, making it an accessible source of information for patients, policy makers, or even the general community. . . With its unique focus on medical ethics, this volume is a welcome addition to the Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements series.--American Reference Books Annual About the Author Laurence B. McCullough is Distinguished Emeritus Professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He is also Adjunct Professor of Ethics in Obstetrics and Gynecology and of Medical Ethics in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. In 2013 he received Baylor’s highest teaching award, the Barbara and Corbin J. Robertson, Jr., Presidential Award for Excellence in Education.