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    Encyclopedia of Bioethics: J. Med. Ethics

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    Furaya Fuisa
    Reviewer regrets the asperity of his criticisms of The Handbook. 'The literature of medical ethics may soon call for the pruning knife' 'there is a mutuality of expectation in ethics; so far, we seem to ignore it'

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    Encyclopedia of Bioethics: J. Med. Ethics

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    Furaya Fuisa
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    Reviewer regrets the asperity of his criticisms of The Handbook. 'The literature of medical ethics may soon call for the pruning knife' 'there is a mutuality of expectation in ethics; so far, we seem to ignore it'

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    Reviewer regrets the asperity of his criticisms of The Handbook. 'The literature of medical ethics may soon call for the pruning knife' 'there is a mutuality of expectation in ethics; so far, we seem to ignore it'

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    27 views3 pages

    Encyclopedia of Bioethics: J. Med. Ethics

    Uploaded by

    Furaya Fuisa
    Reviewer regrets the asperity of his criticisms of The Handbook. 'The literature of medical ethics may soon call for the pruning knife' 'there is a mutuality of expectation in ethics; so far, we seem to ignore it'

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    Encyclopedia of Bioethics
    A V Campbell J. Med. Ethics 1980;6;163-164 doi:10.1136/jme.6.3.163-a

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    Book reviews 163


    The reviewer regrets the asperity of his criticisms. Let it be granted that the handbook is not written for pedants like himself. It is written for busy men. There is the more need, therefore, for the arrangement to be logical and readily understood, and for language to be clear and without ambiguity. (What is meant, for instance, by the sentence in 2.2, that a Family Practitioner Committee 'has the power to assign a patient to a doctor whether he agrees or not'? Who is he, the doctor or the patient?) The Handbook is now on public sale, and we would wish it well ifit can bridge the gap, in understanding and confidence, which seems to be widening, between the profession and the public. Fortunately it does not stand alone: indeed, the literature of medical ethics may soon call for the pruning knife. And when shall we move on to the next step, to educate the lay public in the ethics of patient practice? There is a mutuality of expectation in ethics; so far, we seem to ignore it.
    G R DUNSTAN

    The Ethics of Resource Allocation in Health Care


    K M Boyd Edinburgh University Press, pp I52,

    once more receiving proper attention and this book will make a useful contribution to the debate. It is an expression - neither the term 'record', nor 'summary', nor 'report' is adequate - of the thoughts of a group of I4 people, comprising both health professionals and lay members, which debated this issue for two years under the aegis ofthe Edinburgh Medical Group. I use the word 'expression' because my impression is that the editor, who was the Group's Research Fellow in 1975, has managed to write a synthesis not only of what was said and concluded but of what was felt and implied by the members of the discussion group: a rare achievement. There are five chapters. The first sets out the problem, listing the options facing health service managers, and summarises two principal theories of distributive justice - utilitarianism and John Rawl's theory. The second is a record of the group's consideration of certain issues, to illustrate their way of working and their principal conclusions. The third chapter sets the issues in a historical perspective and the fourth complements this by looking at the issues from four perspectives- 'ecological and epidemiological', typified by

    Encyclopedia of Bioethics Warren T Reich (Editor-in-Chief) Macmillan and Free Press 1978. 4 Vols pp i,8oo, $2oo
    How can one possibly review a four volume work containing 315 separate articles? Inevitably any assessment must be in terms of overall impression together with a somewhat random sampling of specific contributions. An encyclopedia is, after all, essentially a work of reference to be turned to at times of need. The test of its usefulness must be the extent to which it seems likely to fulfil the needs of various groups interested in 'bioethics' (a term defined in the Editor's Introduction as 'the systematic study, in the light of moral values and principles, of human conduct in the area of the life sciences and health

    care').
    The first overall impression given by this work is lavishness in production. Large, clear type, high quality paper and excellent binding make the Encyclopedia into a durable and easily read reference work. Having decided on such an expensive production, the publishers are to be complimented on their attention to detail. (For example, the volumes lie open flat, allowing quick reference to different pages.) A second immediate impression is that this work has been planned primarily with an American readership in mind. The term 'bioethics' conveys this at once, of course, but, in addition, the editorship, consisting of one editor-in-chief and five associate editors, is exclusively American. Admittedly such a complex undertaking could hardly have been completed so quickly without this national concentration and the 6o strong Editorial Advisory Board does contain i8 members from other countries. Nevertheless, there is a danger that the sudden flowering of writing and research in this subject area in the USA may exert an undue influence on the language and theoretical development of bioethics in the rest of the world. An example of this danger may be found in the remarkably comprehensive section on the history of medical ethics (I30 pages of text, spanning the history in primitive societies, Near and Middle East and Africa, South and East Asia, Europe and the Americas). Although the editors have brought together a commendably wide range of authors in the African, Asian, and Near and Middle East sections they rely to a surprising extent on American scholars in the section on the European and American

    5.Xo.
    In the confident 'sixties it seemed to many people that social scientists had the tools to approach and solve social problems as though they were technical problems. Reductionist analysis of a social problem by econometricians and other social scientists would, it appeared, provide the solutions to problems such as the inner cities or the cycle of deprivation or resource allocation. Government and'the development of public services were to be conducted with management tools, even the metaphor implied social engineering such as planned programme budgetting, and difficult decisions were to be made by cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness studies. This rational, engineering, approach failed because the problems which these techniques were used to solve were of a different nature from the problems experienced by the Ford Motor Company or Glacier Metal for which they had been developed. There were certain similarities but the problems of the public services had an ethical dimension which the the problems of industry lacked. As this is increasingly appreciated the ethical aspects of resource allocation are

    McKeown; 'clinical'; 'administrative', a very pragmatic and business-like perspective; and an 'egalitarian', or socialist perspective. The final chapter attempts to summarise the tension which exists between the technical and political approaches to resource allocation. The book also has two long appendices on health econometrics and on decision making in the NHS in Scotland. I would have liked much more discussion on the conclusion on 'which there was least agreement' - that the order of priorities for resource allocation should be prevention then cure and finally rehabilitation. I would also have liked to see a greater proportion of the book devoted to a consideration of the comparison of different client groups, for example the comparison of the needs of old people with the needs of those who are mentally ill.
    The reader who seeks answers will be disappointed because the book does not give any answers. What it does do, and perhaps all that it is possible for any book to do, is to pose the right questions. It emphasises the moral dimension of decision making and the fact that moral enquiry has an essential part to play in the political or professional approach to resource allocation. This is a very useful book.
    J A MUIR GRAY

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    Book reviews x64


    history. The danger of national bias is excellently. Twelve separate articles seen more clearly in the various entries (whose authors include R M Hare, on health and health care. Injustice in Joseph Fletcher and Philippa Foot) lay health care provision is widely ack- the groundwork well, but beyond this, nowledged to be a major problem in the index will be essential, otherwise American medicine, yet all the authors readers may be left unaware of imporin this vital section of the encyclopedia tant entries (eg on Pragmatism, Double are based in the USA! Certainly, most of Effect, and Reductionism). the entries are well balanced (and even a The second group of readers (journallittle critical), but they lack the cutting ists, non-scholarly writers) will surely edge which might have been provided be pleased with the extensive entries on by European or Third World authors. death, sex, abortion, euthanasia, etc. (Ivan Illich's searing attacks on These areas ofthe subject, so prominent medicine's 'expropriation of health' in the public mind, are explored in an gain not even a mention in this whole extensive and scholarly manner. The section, nor do Vicente Navarro's third group (health professionals) are analyses of the capitalist under- somewhat unevenly catered for. There pinning of American medicine). are only a few articles about the 'paraFirst impressions, then, are of a medical' professions. Social work well produced but perhaps somewhat appears under medical social work. myopic reference work. But such initial There are no entries for clinical reactions can be misleading and unjust. psychology, occupational therapy, How useful are the volumes to people physiotherapy, speech therapy, etc. who need readily accessible information Nursing is quite extensively discussed, on their subject area? In his Introduc- though little is said about psychiatric tion the Editor-in-Chief envisages four nursing. Chaplaincy is cross-referenced groups of readers: teachers and their to 'pastoral ministry', but this heading students (in the relevant subjects); is rather misleading since the article disjournalists and writers; health profes- cusses many different aspects of the sionals; policy makers and implemen- interaction between medicine and the ters. The first group of readers is dif- clergy. So far as the theoretical backficult to delineate precisely, but let us ground of professional work is consuppose that they are medical teachers cerned, religion is given a remarkably with a concern for the ethical aspects of generous treatment in comparison with their specialities. Here a little patience (say) psychology or sociology. The will be necessary. There are no entries editors see religious traditions as an or cross references under psychiatry, important influence on ethics and have obstetrics, paediatrics, geriatrics (but a commissioned articles on Buddhism, cross reference from psychoanalysis to Confucianism, Eastern Orthodox 'dynamic therapies' will be found). The Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, specialist must think of his patients and Judaism, Protestantism, Roman seek entries under mental health, Catholicism and Taoism. To a 'religious infants (not birth), children, aging and professional' like myself such a range is the aged, etc. (An exception is the richness indeed - but will such detail be surgeon, who is provided with an entry seen as relevant by other health care under surgery, though it is surprisingly professions, many of whom regard brief.) What of the teacher or student in religion as of no consequence in moral medicine who wants to check up on issues? Perhaps in this area the editors some ethical or philosophical concepts? feel they have an educational or even Here the entry on ethics will serve him evangelistic task to exercise.

    The fourth group of readers - the policy makers (politicians) and policy implementers (judges, civil servants, administrators) - could gain a lot from the Encyclopedia, if they can be persuaded to see its relevance. I cannot imagine many of this group turning to the more theoretical entries on ethics, religion, the history of medical ethics or the philosophy of medicine. But they might well want to discover a summary of scholarship on contemporary issues of debate, eg fetal research, psychosurgery, kidney dialysis, heart transplantation. In this they will be well served. Obviously the quality of entries varies a little, but from them all we gain a well-researched, balanced and clearly summarised survey of the contemporary debate. How useful then is the Encyclopedia? It is not easy to come to any conclusive answer to this question, for, it depends very much on the use one has in mind. For the busy practitioner (in medicine or other health care professions) it is probably too detailed, too theoretical and too expensive! Here it compares unfavourably with the compact and economically produced Dictionary of Medical Ethics. The specialist student of this area of ethics, on the other hand, will find it an indispensable reference work, for it contains a truly impressive range of scholarship and as well as helpful lists of bibliographical references. The final test of the Encyclopedia's usefulness will be the extent to which it becomes a reference work for educators in medicine and other professions, in specialities other than ethics. These volumes could be a valuable educational resource for them. I trust that the omissions and occasional biasses I have already noted will not obscure the value of this work to all professional educators in health care, who are willing to explore with their students the ethical implications of their speciality.
    A V CAMPBELL

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