medical offices, health professionals confront ethical problems ranging from relatively simple to the most complex. The amazing advances in technology that now save so many lives have also created serious ethical dilemmas, such as to how to allocate increasingly scarce resources, support patient autonomy, maintain confidentiality, and define life and death. And, in facing the many difficult issues of modern medicine, health care workers must also consider how to balance the needs of the individual patient with the needs of society. This practical book explores the nature of many current ethical dilemmas, clarifies the underlying issues, discusses the application of ethical principles to health care situations, and offers guidance to aid in the decision-making process. Issues include privacy and patients' rights, the social costs of high tech medical procedures, organ replacement, reproductive technology, neonatal intensive care, death and dying, and the rights and responsibilities of patients with AIDS.

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