Due to the rapid advances in the medical field, existing books on Jewish medical ethics are quickly becoming outdated and irrelevant. Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision-Making seeks to remedy that by presenting the most contemporary medical information and rabbinic rulings in an accessible, user-friendly manner. Rabbi Weiner addresses a broad range of medical circumstances such as surrogacy and egg donation, assisted suicide, and end of life decision making. Based on his extensive training and practical familiarity inside a major hospital, Rabbi Weiner provides clear and concise guidance to facilitate complex decision-making for the most common medical dilemmas that arise in contemporary society.
This booklet is designed to assist people observing traditional Jewish Law while undergoing medical treatment, especially in the complex and unfamiliar environment of a hospital. The strength of this work is its brevity, as it provides easy access to answers on numerous questions that can arise in a hospital-including proper observance of Shabbat, kashrut, festivals, and numerous other ritual observances-according to the Shulchan Aruch, and relies heavily on contemporary works such as Mishnah Berurah, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah, and Nishmat Avraham. This collection is an indispensable resource for hospital chaplains (of any faith), and an essential guide for a rabbi involved in pastoral and communal affairs. Most of all, it is written with the layperson in mind, to quickly provide answers to many of the questions of observance that arise in a hospital.
Duty and Healing positions ethical issues commonly encountered in clinical situations within Jewish law. It looks at the role of the family, the question of informed consent and the responsibilities of caretakers.
For observant Jewish medical students and residents, navigating the system of medical training while observing halakhah is a challenging task. Sacred Training includes essays addressing the complex interface of halakhah and medical training. Each essay introduces fundamental halakhic principles and then guides the reader through the application of those principles to the contemporary question. The essays in this volume, written largely by medical professionals, thoroughly illuminate each topic and provide greater clarity and insight. Topics include taking the Hippocratic Oath, the anatomy laboratory, praying early in the morning or after working the night shift, counseling patients on treatments that violate halakhah, caring for moribund or deceased patients, residency and Shabbat, and many more. This book will be of great value to medical trainees, serving as a resource that can be referenced again and again throughout the long process of training to become a physician, helping to transform these difficult years into a spiritually meaningful journey.
In this original and compelling book, Jeffrey P. Bishop, a philosopher, ethicist, and physician, argues that something has gone sadly amiss in the care of the dying by contemporary medicine and in our social and political views of death, as shaped by our scientific successes and ongoing debates about euthanasia and the “right to die”—or to live. The Anticipatory Corpse: Medicine, Power, and the Care of the Dying, informed by Foucault’s genealogy of medicine and power as well as by a thorough grasp of current medical practices and medical ethics, argues that a view of people as machines in motion—people as, in effect, temporarily animated corpses with interchangeable parts—has become epistemologically normative for medicine. The dead body is subtly anticipated in our practices of exercising control over the suffering person, whether through technological mastery in the intensive care unit or through the impersonal, quasi-scientific assessments of psychological and spiritual “medicine.” The result is a kind of nihilistic attitude toward the dying, and troubling contradictions and absurdities in our practices. Wide-ranging in its examples, from organ donation rules in the United States, to ICU medicine, to “spiritual surveys,” to presidential bioethics commissions attempting to define death, and to high-profile cases such as Terri Schiavo’s, The Anticipatory Corpse explores the historical, political, and philosophical underpinnings of our care of the dying and, finally, the possibilities of change. This book is a ground-breaking work in bioethics. It will provoke thought and argument for all those engaged in medicine, philosophy, theology, and health policy.
For the past 65 years, The Washington Manual® of Medical Therapeutics, now in its Thirty-Fourth Edition, has been one of the best-selling medical texts in the world. It builds upon that proud tradition--with even more of the current information you need, and delivered in a time-saving, quick-reference style. Its comprehensiveness and ease of access makes it a favorite on-call resource for housestaff and faculty around the world. Continuing the tradition of excellence, each chapter has been updated and reformatted for easier access to the information the reader needs. Inside this edition you’ll find... • New streamlined format that helps you keep pace with the latest advances in the field while removing redundancies and outdated information • New chapter on toxicology prepares you to respond effectively to any poisoning, overdose, or exposure emergency • Decision support algorithms for quick reference See why The Washington Manual® is the most vital on-call resource for house staff and faculty around the world!
Patients today are more empowered and knowledgeable than they have ever been. By law, they must be told about the risks and benefits of proposed treatments and give informed consent before treatment is initiated. Through the democratization of medical information, they have access to peer-reviewed medical journals. Social media allows patients to share stories with others and to learn about other people's experiences with various treatments. There are websites written by experts at leading medical schools to help patients understand diseases and treatments. They have the right to see their medical records. The net result of all changes is a shift in the power balance between doctors and patients. Ideally, as a result of these shifts, the patients' values and preferences should guide treatment decisions. However, this proliferation of information often leads to confusion rather than clarity. Publicly available information often includes seemingly contradictory conclusions and recommendations. Patients don't know which opinions to trust. So, although patients have more information than ever, and many want to make decisions for themselves, they need more guidance than ever to help them process an avalanche of information. This volume aims to help both medical professionals and their patients navigate the evolving healthcare landscape by analyzing the process of shared decision-making (SDM) in clinical medicine. The concept of SDM has emerged in the last two decades as a middle ground between, on the one hand, old-fashinioned physician paternalism of the "doctor-knows-best" variety and, on the other hand, unfettered patient autonomy by which patients are thought capable of individually and independently choosing their own medical interventions. Advocates of SDM imagine that decisions will be made best if they follow a complex discussion and negotiation between doctor and patient; such discussions should incorporate the doctor's medical and technical expertise as well as the patient's goals, values, and preferences. SDM takes different forms for different patients in different clinical circumstances. This volume gathers experts in SDM to share their insights about how it ought to be done. The authors include clinicians, social scientist, and philosophers, all of whom have thought about or cared for patients from a variety of backgrounds and in a variety of clinical circumstances. The papers explore the complexity of SDM and offer practical guidance, gained from years of experience, about how to employ SDM as effectively as possible.
A practical and thought provoking introduction to the most important ethical issues in medicine today. Over 700 entries, from short essays to brief definitions of key terms and concepts, have been contributed by leading clinicians and medical ethicists.
Readers will find practical insights on conquering fear; harnessing will power; removing ego from the equation; mastering negotiation techniques; dealing with failure; utilising spiritual entrepreneurship; and harvesting the power of positivity.
First published in 2002. The doctor patient relationship starts with a story. Doctors' notes, a patient's chart, the recommendations of ethics committees and insurance justifications all hinge on written and verbal narrative interaction. The practice of narrative profoundly affects decision making, patient health and treatment and the everyday practice of medicine. In this edited collection, the contributors provide conceptual foundations, practical guidelines and theoretical considerations central to the practice of narrative ethics.
