Neonatal Bioethics

Neonatal Bioethics PDF Author: John D. Lantos
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801889006
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Neonatal intensive care has been one of the most morally controversial areas of medicine during the past thirty years. This study examines the interconnected development of four key aspects of neonatal intensive care: medical advances, ethical analysis, legal scrutiny, and econometric evaluation. The authors assert that a dramatic shift in societal attitudes toward newborns and their medical care was a stimulus for and then a result of developments in the medical care of newborns. They divide their analysis into three eras of neonatal intensive care. The first, characterized by the rapid advance of medical technology from the late 1960s to the Baby Doe case of 1982, established neonatal care as a legitimate specialty of medical care, separate from the rest of pediatrics and medicine. During this era, legal scholars and moral philosophers debated the relative importance of parental autonomy, clinical prognosis, and children's rights. The second era, beginning with the Baby Doe case (a legal battle that spurred legislation mandating that infants with debilitating birth defects be treated unless the attending physician deems efforts to prolong life "futile"), stimulated efforts to establish a consistent federal standard on neonatal care decisions and raised important moral questions concerning the meaning of "futility" and of "inhumane" treatment. In the third era, a consistent set of decision-making criteria and policies was established. These policies were the result of the synergy and harmonization of newly agreed upon ethical principles and newly discovered epidemiological characteristics of neonatal care. Tracing the field's recent history, notable advances, and considerable challenges yet to be faced, the authors present neonatal bioethics as a paradigm of complex conversation among physicians, philosophers, policy makers, judges, and legislators which has led to responsible societal oversight of a controversial medical innovation.

Neonatal Bioethics

Neonatal Bioethics PDF Author: John D. Lantos
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801889006
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Get Book

Book Description
Neonatal intensive care has been one of the most morally controversial areas of medicine during the past thirty years. This study examines the interconnected development of four key aspects of neonatal intensive care: medical advances, ethical analysis, legal scrutiny, and econometric evaluation. The authors assert that a dramatic shift in societal attitudes toward newborns and their medical care was a stimulus for and then a result of developments in the medical care of newborns. They divide their analysis into three eras of neonatal intensive care. The first, characterized by the rapid advance of medical technology from the late 1960s to the Baby Doe case of 1982, established neonatal care as a legitimate specialty of medical care, separate from the rest of pediatrics and medicine. During this era, legal scholars and moral philosophers debated the relative importance of parental autonomy, clinical prognosis, and children's rights. The second era, beginning with the Baby Doe case (a legal battle that spurred legislation mandating that infants with debilitating birth defects be treated unless the attending physician deems efforts to prolong life "futile"), stimulated efforts to establish a consistent federal standard on neonatal care decisions and raised important moral questions concerning the meaning of "futility" and of "inhumane" treatment. In the third era, a consistent set of decision-making criteria and policies was established. These policies were the result of the synergy and harmonization of newly agreed upon ethical principles and newly discovered epidemiological characteristics of neonatal care. Tracing the field's recent history, notable advances, and considerable challenges yet to be faced, the authors present neonatal bioethics as a paradigm of complex conversation among physicians, philosophers, policy makers, judges, and legislators which has led to responsible societal oversight of a controversial medical innovation.

Neonatal Bioethics

Neonatal Bioethics PDF Author: John D. Lantos
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 080188344X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Neonatal intensive care has been one of the most morally controversial areas of medicine during the last thirty years. This study offers an expansive view of the abstract and practical features of neonatal medicine, examining the interconnected development of four key aspects of neonatal intensive care: medical advances, ethical analysis, legal scrutiny, and econometric evaluation. Tracing the recent history of neonatal ethics, analyzing the notable advances, and considering the many lessons to be learned, the authors present neonatal medicine as a paradigm of responsible societal management of medical innovation.

Religion and Ethics in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Religion and Ethics in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit PDF Author: Ronald M. Green
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190636866
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Each year, neonatal Intensive care units (NICUs) in the U.S. and around the world help thousands of sick or premature newborns survive. NICUs are committed to the ideals of family-centered care, which encourages shared decision-making between parents and NICU caregivers. In cases of infants with conditions marked by high mortality, morbidity, or great suffering, family-centered care affirms the right of parents to assist in making decisions regarding aggressive treatment for their infant. Often, these parents' difficult and intimate decisions are shaped profoundly by their religious beliefs. In light of this, what precisely are the teachings of the major world religious traditions about the status and care of the premature or sick newborn? Few studies have grappled with what major religious traditions teach about the care of the newborn or how these teachings may bear on parents' decisions. This volume seeks to fill this gap, providing information on religious teachings about the newborn to the multidisciplinary teams of NICU professionals (neonatologists, advance practice nurses, social workers), as well as to parents of NICU patients, and students of bioethics. In chapters dealing with Judaism, Catholicism, Denominational Protestantism, Evangelical Protestantism, African American Protestantism, Sunni and Shi'a Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Navajo religion, and Seventh Day Adventism, leading scholars develop the teachings of these traditions on the status, treatment, and ritual accompaniments of care of the premature or sick newborn. This is an essential book that will serve as a first resort for clinicians who need to understand the religious dynamics influencing anyone making a difficult decision about her sick newborn.

Too Expensive to Treat?

Too Expensive to Treat? PDF Author: Charles C. Camosy
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802865291
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
The moral status of newborn infants -- Arguments against the social quality of life model -- The "weak" social quality of life model -- A constructive proposal for reforming the treatment and care of imperiled newborns.

Ethical Dilemmas for Critically Ill Babies

Ethical Dilemmas for Critically Ill Babies PDF Author: Eduard Verhagen
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9401773602
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
Most neonates who now survive intensive care would have died 50 years ago, and “nature” would have decided the outcomes, making ethical discussions about initiating or withholding resuscitation irrelevant. Medical developments in neonatology have changed the way we respond to diseases of neonates, to their illness, and to their parents. Not only as physicians, but also as a society. Decisions on when to start, withhold, or withdraw life-saving interventions in critically ill neonates are among the most difficult decisions in pediatric practice. These decisions are fraught with ethical dilemmas, for example deciding whether withholding intensive care –leading to death- is superior to uncertain survival with a risk of disability and the additional burden of intensive care. This book covers important ethical questions that arise in neonatal intensive care units. Questions such as, whether to intervene medically and whether we are good at predicting the outcome of fragile neonates; whether a medical intervention should be withheld or withdrawn, and who should be primarily responsible for these decisions and how?

Preterm Birth

Preterm Birth PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030910159X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 791

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Book Description
The increasing prevalence of preterm birth in the United States is a complex public health problem that requires multifaceted solutions. Preterm birth is a cluster of problems with a set of overlapping factors of influence. Its causes may include individual-level behavioral and psychosocial factors, sociodemographic and neighborhood characteristics, environmental exposure, medical conditions, infertility treatments, and biological factors. Many of these factors co-occur, particularly in those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged or who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups. While advances in perinatal and neonatal care have improved survival for preterm infants, those infants who do survive have a greater risk than infants born at term for developmental disabilities, health problems, and poor growth. The birth of a preterm infant can also bring considerable emotional and economic costs to families and have implications for public-sector services, such as health insurance, educational, and other social support systems. Preterm Birth assesses the problem with respect to both its causes and outcomes. This book addresses the need for research involving clinical, basic, behavioral, and social science disciplines. By defining and addressing the health and economic consequences of premature birth, this book will be of particular interest to health care professionals, public health officials, policy makers, professional associations and clinical, basic, behavioral, and social science researchers.

The Lazarus Case

The Lazarus Case PDF Author: John D. Lantos
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801887703
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
In this volume, John Lantos weaves a story that captures the dilemmas of modern medical practice. He draws on his experience in neonatal medicine, paediatrics and medical ethics to explore ethical dilemmas through one poignant representative situation.

Extreme Prematurity

Extreme Prematurity PDF Author: Geoffrey Miller
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139460595
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 13

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Book Description
Extreme Prematurity examines the controversial issues surrounding the clinical management of this group of neonates by the intervention of modern neonatal intensive care. The foregoing of life-sustaining treatment is of particular importance. The subject matter is very relevant because of the alarming increase in multiple and preterm births, due to the increase in women who are undergoing assisted reproductive procedures, and the large increase in premature labor. No recent book covers the subject in such comparable breadth. The first section of this very timely monograph covers the epidemiology and practices in different parts of the world; the second section covers bioethics considerations, including ethical theories, moral principles and quality of life issues; the third section covers national and international guidelines; the last section covers medical law aspects in the US and around the world.

Pediatric Bioethics

Pediatric Bioethics PDF Author: Geoffrey Miller
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521517982
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
This volume offers a theoretical and practical overview of the ethics of pediatric medicine. It serves as a fundamental handbook and resource for pediatricians, nurses, residents in training, graduate students, and practitioners of ethics and healthcare policy. Written by a team of leading experts, Pediatric Bioethics addresses those difficult ethical questions concerning the clinical and academic practice of pediatrics, including an approach to recognizing boundaries when confronted with issues such as end of life care, life-sustaining treatment, extreme prematurity, pharmacotherapy, and research. Thorny topics such as what constitutes best interests, personhood, or distributive justice and public health concerns such as immunization and newborn genetic screening are also addressed.

Uncertainty in Medical Innovation

Uncertainty in Medical Innovation PDF Author: Jessica Mesman
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230594921
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a site where hi-tech medicine and vulnerable human beings come into close contact. Focusing on a number of medical and ethical challenges encountered by staff and parents, this book provides a new perspective on the complexity of these treatments and the inventiveness of those involved.