Limits

ROGER B. DWORKIN is Professor of Law at Indiana University School of Law–Bloomington and Nelson Poynter Scholar and Director of Medical Studies at Indiana University's Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions. An expert in the relationship between law and the biomedical sciences, Dworkin is co-author of a leading casebook on law and medicine.

• Preface1. Introduction: Biomedical Advance and the American Legal System2. Abortion: The Perils of Thinking Big3. Sterilization: The Big Advantage of Thinking Small4. Alternative Reproductive Techniques5. The New Genetics6. Death and Dying7. Controlling Research: Administrative Law, Human Subjects, and the Power of the Purse8. Conclusion: Living with Limites: The Value of Half a Loaf

"As ethical and social dilemmas mount with an advancing technology, so also have people turned to the legal system for solutions. Dworkin examines the basis of why biomedical and healthcare decisions more often end up in courts of law. The author does a masterful job of reviewing the present US legal system when it comes to bioethical decision making. In fact, the first chapter reviews the legal, legislative, and constitutional aspects of this issue. The information is clearly presented to provide readers with a new insight into what is happening. Seven chapters touch all of the hot point issues in bioethics: abortion, sterilization, alternative reproduction techniques, genetic screening, death and dying, and human research; the final chapter offers conclusions from this study. Dworkin makes it clear that use of the legal system in this area is unwarranted in most cases and that there exist alternatives for decision making in difficult bioethics cases. An excellent resource for entry-level courses on bioethics for health care practitioners, law students, and physicians. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate students; faculty; professionals.June 1997"—R. G. McGee, Jr., Walters State Community College