Table of Contents
Preface to the Fourth Edition
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Ethical Resources for Decision-Making
Moral Philosophy
Morality versus Ethics
Levels of Moral Response
A Variety of Perspectives
Some Basic Concepts
Five Types of Ethical Theory: Mill, Kant, Ross, Aristotle, and
Feminist Perspectives
The Language of Rights
Concluding Thoughts
Chapter One: Relationships in Health Care
When Physicians and Family Disagree
Prescribing Birth Control to Minors
Nancy Olivieri, Bioethics, and Industry Funding
Ol’ Joe Terminal Illness, Addictions, and Respect
An “Over-the-Hill” Surgeon
Chapter Two: Health Care in Canada
Budget Cutting in Neonatology and Perinatology
Social Determinants of Health
An Artificial Heart — Allocating Health Care Funding
Canada’s Tainted Blood Scandal
Chapter Three: Consent
Research Involving Alzheimer Patients
Non-Consensual Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy
Discontinuing Forced Feeding of an Anorexia Nervosa
Patient
Choosing Not to Vaccinate
Religious Conflict over a Life-Saving Blood Transfusion
Chapter Four: Reproduction
When a Couple Disagree over Abortion
Caesarean for the Sake of the Fetus?
The Legality and Morality of Contract (Surrogate)
Pregnancy
The Role of Chantal Daigle’s Boyfriend in Her Abortion
Decision
Fetal Tissue Transplantation
Too Old to Have a Baby?
Chapter Five: Fetuses and Newborns
Should Treatment Be Withheld from Patients with Severe
Cognitive Disabilities?
Sex Selection for Non-Medical Reasons
Should Fetuses with “Milder Disabilities” Be Aborted?
Protecting an “Unborn Child”
Saviour Siblings
Chapter Six: Death, Dying, and Euthanasia
Two Different Requests to Be Left to Die
- “Don’t Let My Mother Die”
- “Please Let Me Die”
Sue Rodriguez: “Please Help Me to Die”
Tracy and Robert Latimer: “It Was Right to Kill
MyDaughter”
Stephen Dawson: Should Severely Mentally ChallengedPatients Be
Treated?
The Brain Dead as Teaching Materials
Chapter Seven: Research Involving Human Participants
Using Infants in Medical Research Projects
Diagnosing and Treating Heart Disease in Women
Who Owns the Research? The Case of the HeLa Cells
Access to Experimental Drugs in Catastrophic Circumstances
Pandemic Flu Ethics and Risk
Chapter Eight: Scarce Medical Resources and Catastrophic
Circumstances
Dialysis Machine Shortages: Who Shall Live?
Ethics and Humanitarian Aid: Vertical Aid Programs
Payment for Plasma
Anencephalic Infants as Donors
A Baboon Heart for Baby Fae
Did Family Instability Justify Non-Treatment of Baby
Jesse?
Chapter Nine: Genetics
The Nuu chah nulth Nation and Arthritis Research
Enhancement and Sport
Genetic Testing and Disclosure
Chapter Ten: Unanalyzed Cases for Further Study
Should Restraints Be Used to Correct Self-Destructive
Behaviour?
Breast Cancer While Pregnant
Should Patients Be Informed of Remote Risks of Procedures?
Minors as Organ Donors
Failed Contraception, Genetic Disorders, and Parental
Disagreement
To Resuscitate or Not to Resuscitate?
CPR and a Nurse’s Responsibility
”Don’t Start the Respirator”
Queue-Jumping in the OR
Allocation of ICU Beds
Vaccination Allocation
Genetic Screening and Family Disclosure
Index
About the Author
The late John Thomas taught in the Department
of Philosophy at McMaster University for over 30 years.
Wilfrid J. Waluchow is Professor of Philosophy
and Senator William McMaster Chair in Constitutional Studies at
McMaster University and Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law
School.
Elisabeth Gedge is Chair of the Department of
Philosophy at McMaster University.
Reviews
“Perhaps the best text of its kind for undergraduate courses in
Health Care Ethics and Health Science programs. It requires no
previous knowledge of philosophy, is full of relevant and
interesting case studies, and contains the most up-to-date
information concerning health law and precedent-setting cases in a
Canadian context. Maybe best of all, it’s sure to prove a powerful
generator of class discussion.” — David C. Flagel, University of
New Brunswick“This new and improved edition of Well and Good offers
an impressive selection of cases on a broad range of topics. An
outstanding resource.” — David Rondel, University of Nevada,
RenoComments on previous editions“… superb … wide in scope but
concrete in the way it grapples with these problems. It illuminates
both the moral and the technical aspects of the field.” — Daniel
Callahan, Hastings Center“There are so few books like this … very
helpful in showing how ethical theory can be applied in real life.”
— Mary Bockover, University of California, Santa Barbara“Well and
Good covers a diverse range of issues using medically detailed
cases. I particularly like how it addresses clinic and home
settings as well as hospitals.” — Connie Perry, Allegheny
University of the Health Sciences
