Foundations in the Law: Classic Cases in Medical Ethics

摘要

The ethics of a people, as demonstrated through public policy, are generally thought to inform that people's legal system and its decisions. The converse is also true: decisions within a legal system inform, or impact, ethics -specifically medical ethics The cases discussed in this paper are at the foundation of medical ethics in the United States. They address informed consent, abortion, refusal of medical care, the right to die, surrogate motherhood, and medical research, among other topics. Cases unique to the military are also included. This monograph includes significant excerpts from 25 cases. The excerpts include those portions of the decisions that address the most important ethical issues. Appendices include the United States Constitution, the vocabulary of medical ethics, a chronological list of cases, cases grouped by subject, a table of all cited cases, and biographies of the editors.