A Question of Ethics: Case Conferences in Everyday Ethical and Legal Issues

A collection of ethical case conferences on a wide variety of problems presented over a period of twenty years. Similar cases are grouped together and presented in fifty [50] chapters such as Parental refusal to treat a child and an Impaired Physician. The chapters are themselves groped within fourteen [14] sections with titles such as Professional Conduct and Risks and Child Abuse. Each chapter begins with a summary of the case report(s) that were presented at the case conferences and then the authors discussion of the ethical legal or administrative Issues Raised in the cases. The discussion/observations on every issue raised is supported by references from the ethical and legal sources used; in addition each section on an issue raised is followed by a comment on the applicability to the cases presented and suggestions where appropriate as to what may have been an alternative course of action in dealing with the problems posed.Contained in the over 300 pages are the everyday problems faced by patients and health professionals and illustrate how issues may escalate when the health professional bypasses simple rules of conduct or the patient is unaware of their rights and allows fear to distort their proper care.