The Least Worst Death: Essays in Bioethics on the End of Life (Monographs in Epidemiology and)

Engagingly Written By One Of The Foremost Experts On Issues Involving Death And Dying, This Book Offers Insight Into The Controversial And Often Difficult Topics Of Withdrawing And Withholding Care, Euthanasia, And Suicide. An Extensive Introduction Identifies The Principal Ethical Issues, And The Book Explores Such Dilemmas As Rationing Health Care For The Elderly, Whether There Is A Duty To Die, Counseling In Rational Suicide, The Risks Of Abuse With Active Euthanasia, Religious Views About Suicide, Whether Suicide Can Be Understood As A Fundamental Human Right, And Others. It Also Examines The Differing Practices Of Holland And Germany In Ending Life. Exploring The Dilemmas Raised By Contemporary Medicine Concerning The Way We Die, And Collecting Under One Cover A Myriad Of Crucial Elements Involving One Of The Most Inflammatory Issues Of Our Time, The Least Worst Death Presents A Timely, International Analysis For Anyone Interested In Bioethics Or Medical And Applied Ethics. Introduction: The Politics Of Dying -- The Least Worst Death -- The Eclipse Of Altruism : The Moral Costs Of Deciding For Others -- Is There A Duty To Die? Age Rationing And The Just Distribution Of Health Care -- Dying In 559 Beds : Efficiency, Best Buys, And The Ethics Of Standardization In National Health Care -- Euthanasia : The Fundamental Issues -- A Dozen Caveats Concerning The Discussion Of Euthanasia In The Netherlands -- Fiction As Forecast : Euthanasia In Alzheimer's Disease? -- Voluntary Euthanasia And The Risks Of Abuse -- Suicide : The Basic Issues -- Manipulated Suicide -- Prohibition And Invitation : The Paradox Of Religious Views About Suicide -- Assisted Suicide : Can We Learn From Germany? -- Assisting In Suicide : Seventeeen Questions Physicians And Mental-health Professionals Should Ask -- Suicide : A Fundamental Human Right? Margaret Pabst Battin. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.