The American Journal of Bioethics’ April 2009 issue is now online with some timely and thought-provoking Target Articles that certain to catch your attention.
From should we scan our entire bodies, to whose perspective matters, to are parents rushed into end-of-life decisions for dying children, this issue promises not to disappoint. Click here to read the Table of Contents.
To read a more detailed description of the Target Articles, read more after the jump.
First, Burger and Kass raise the question of using screening tests on individuals, such as whole body CTs, when there is insufficient population-based data to support their use. Should radiologists, they ask, accede to patient wishes and give these scans absent good data to support their use?
Second, Foglia et al explore the multiple roles and varied experiences of the persons sitting on the VA hospital ethics committee. Their conclusion: with varied roles come varied perspectives on ethics cases and how they might come to resolution.
Lastly, we explore difficult cases of whether parents are rushed into making end-of-life decisions in pediatric ICUs and whether there is actually artificial time pressure. Thomas Cochrane presents us with that question and colleagues respond.
To see the entire issue including the Target Articles, an editorial by David Magnus, and book reviews, go to bioethics.net.
Summer Johnson, PhD