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Fall 2007 - Bioethics and Human Rights
Introduction
Introduction: The Future is Now—Promoting Human Rights in the Context of BioethicsSince its emergence in the 1970s, the field of bioethics has grown in terms of size, scope and importance. In addition to becoming a staple in newspaper headlines and talk show topics, bioethics now has a prominent place in academia, at the beside, and among health policy makers.
Featured Articles
Medical Judgment in Court and in Congress: Abortion, Refusing Treatment, and Drug Regulation
The U.S. Supreme Court has moved from deciding in 1973 that in the absence of a compelling state interest, the Constitution requires deference to medical judgment, to deciding in 2007 that Congress can restrict medical treatment decisions for purely symbolic reasons.
Mistaken Paradigms of Interests in the Health Insurance Coverage Debate
More than forty-five million Americans lack health insurance, which has resulted in a relatively poor level of health for the U.S. population when compared to other industrialized countries.
Bakke and Safety Net Medicine
The United States faces a significant problem. Too many people have little or no access to doctors, either because they have no health insurance and cannot pay or because, in both poor sections of and rural areas, there simply are no doctors.
Health Care Facility Ethics Committees: New Issues in the Age of Transparency
The simple passage of time has not delivered clear guidance on the most effective structures, methods, and models for implementing clinical ethics processes within hospital settings. Rather, the implementation of these programs remains ad hoc and lacks consistency in methods.
Stem Cells without Embryos: Solving Dilemmas for Human Rights?
New reports have highly publicized research in which stem cells are created without destroying embryos. Yet taking embryos out of the equation does not necessarily equal research that is consistent with respect for human rights.
Health Literacy: Closing the Communication Gap between Doctors and Patients
Medical technology has progressed at a breathtaking rate leaving many patients confused about medical care and treatment options. Poor health literacy is a drain on the U.S. health care system.
New Means of Increasing the Transplant Organ Supply: Ethical and Legal Issues
The shortage of transplant organs in the United States continues to grow despite multifaceted attempts to increase the supply. In response, people on the formal waiting lists are pursuing alternative means of obtaining life-saving organs.
Child Prisoners in America's War on Terror
Our Human Rights Hero reports on child prisoners in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and other "war on terror" prisons.
Human Rights Hero: Dr. Steven Miles
As a physician who also works in bioethics, Dr. Miles has dedicated his career to taking heroic stands on issues of ethics and human rights, whether addressing the needs of refugees in Southeast Asia, protecting the rights of residents of nursing homes in the United States, or exposing the abuse of detainees interrogated in Iraq and Afghanistan.
