Overview

In this volume, John Lantos weaves a story that captures the dilemmas of modern medical practice. It begins with a fictional malpractice case - an amalgam of typical cases in which Lantos appeared as an expert witness - and uses it as the framework for addressing the ethical issues surrounding neonatal intensive care. Lantos draws on his experience in neonatal medicine, paediatrics and medical ethics to explore multiple ethical dilemmas through one poignant representative situation. In Lantos's model case, a doctor decides to stop resuscitation of a premature infant, a tiny ""preemie"" who seems past reasonable care. The baby survives with severe neurological defects and the parents sue the doctor, alleging that stopping treatment was negligent. From this case, Lantos considers our moral obligations to critically ill babies, the meaning of negligence, and the sorts of social structures that shape the moral consciences of doctors. Each chapter begins with Lantos deposing in the conference room of the plaintiffs' lawyers. The questions put to Lantos throughout the deposition spark a retelling of his personal experiences with premature babies, as well as his thoughtful discussions of ethics, morality, history, and medical statistics. Sprinkled throughout the book are references to fictional works by Camus, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Twain and others. Lantos uses these literary examples to further illustrate the ambiguities, misunderstandings, responsibilities and evasions that plague our decisions regarding life and death, medical care and medical education, and ultimately the cost and value of preserving the lives of the most vulnerable among us.

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9780801867620

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Reviews

<p> This outstanding book is one of the most important on medical ethics in the past ten years... It is authored by a physician who views issues of the day firsthand in a thoughtful, realistic, and consistent style. The result is elegant and highly readable. Lantos examines ethical problems of neonatal intensive care through his depositional testimony regarding a child who unaccountably survived after treatment was stopped; the result was severe neurological deficit. This device allows Lantos to make cogent but never doctrinaire comments on our judicial system and the progress of technology at the expense of humanity... A must read for physicians, health authorities, and all who in desiring justice imbued with moral acceptance recognize that medical certitude is beyond our powers. -- Choice

<p>The very readable text offers a compelling perspective, both personal and professional, on a tragic situation that illuminates how difficult it is to determine whether any treatment decision is right or wrong, despite the law's best efforts to render such verdicts.--Felicia G. Cohn Religious Studies Review (01/01/2003)

Author Information

John D. Lantos, M.D., is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Chicago and holds the John B. Francis Chair in Bioethics at the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City. He is the author of Do We Still Need Doctors? and coauthor of Neonatal Bioethics: The Moral Challenges of Medical Innovation, also published by Johns Hopkins.

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