Bioethics in Action

A collection of first-person case studies that detail serious ethical problems in medical practice and research.

Françoise Baylis (Edited by), Alice Dreger (Edited by)

9781107543935, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 January 2020

188 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.1 cm, 0.293 kg

'It is difficult to imagine an ethicist who would not find a keen interest in one, or more likely most, of the chapters in this book. Similarly, anyone with an interest in medical law will find the topics here stirring. I use the word 'stirring' consciously - as this is what the book aims to do and does it well.' Ewa Posner, Medical Law Review

Speaking from and to the growing movement among academics to become involved with 'socially-engaged' work, this volume presents first-person case studies of attempts to fix serious ethical problems in medical practice and research. It highlights the critical difference between the pundit approach to bioethics and the interventional approach - the talkers and the doers - and points to how abused and damaged the doers often end up. Chapters cover a diverse set of topics, including the troubling influence of for-profit businesses on public health policy, the politics of exposing histories of unjust medical research, the challenges of patient rights' work in sexuality and reproduction, collaborations between NGOs and academics, methods for changing entrenched yet harmful medical practices, engaging public policy through educating governmental leaders, and whistleblowing. The trending interest in the interplay of academia and advocacy and the growing importance of 'socially-engaged' work by academics make this a timely and much-needed resource.

1. More than words Alice Dreger and Françoise Baylis
2. Where there's smoke, there's Pfizer Françoise Baylis and Jocelyn Downie
3. 'So what?': historical contingency, activism and reflections on the studies in Tuskegee and Guatemala Susan M. Reverby
4. Twenty years of working toward intersex rights Alice Dreger
5. Working with public citizen: an academic-NGO collaboration Ruth Macklin
6. Repro tech's legacy of omission Miriam Zoll
7. Establishing pediatric palliative care – overcoming barriers Joel Frader
8. History and philosophy of science engaging the public Jane Maienschein
9. The Flint water crisis Aron Sousa.

Subject Areas: Medical & healthcare law [LNTM], Sociology [JHB], Ethical issues & debates [JFM]