The Roles and Responsibilities of
the Ethics Consultant:
A Retrospective Analysis of Cases
Benjamin Freedman, MD, edited by Françoise Baylis, PhD
These
cases, taken from the journals of Benjamin Freedman, are invaluable resource for
both novice and experienced ethics consultants. These
are Freedman’s original case consultations, complete with insightful commentary,
spanning a wide range of issues.
Part
One is a collection of ethics consultations on such familiar issues as
disclosure and the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration. “A
young boy calls the adolescent hot-line and with remorse recounts his
participation in a crime. During the conversation
he discloses his name, where he is from, and the location of the crime. Is
disclosure to the police prohibited, permitted, or required?”
Part
Two focuses on ethics consultations at the margins. “An elderly gentleman, on
the advice of the director of professional services, calls the
ethics consultant to find out about living wills. The disadvantages of
instruction directives are discussed and contrasted with the benefits of
proxy directives. Persuaded of the benefits of naming a proxy decision maker,
the patient asks the consultant to serve as his surrogate.” In
particular, the cases in Part Two challenge the reader to reflect on the roles
and responsibilities of ethics consultants.
Part Three engages those who provide consultation services in an dialogue about the moral dimensions of professional practice in bioethics. According to Freedman, ethics consultation is about embracing one’s duty. Given this, what does it mean to fulfill one’s duty as an ethics consultant? What does it mean to exceed one’s duty? Are there heroes in bioethics whose exemplary conduct we should strive to emulate and teach?
$16.95. Softcover.
ISBN 978-1-55572-058-2
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About the Author
Benjamin Freedman, PhD, an internationally recognized scholar in bioethics, was
Professor of Medicine and Philosophy in the
Biomedical Ethics Unit at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He was also the
Clinical Ethicist at the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish
General Hospital of Montreal. He died in 1997. His most recent book, published
posthumously, is Duty and Healing: Foundations of a Jewish Bioethic.
About the Editor
Françoise Baylis, PhD, is Associate Professor of Medicine and Philosophy at
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. She
is the editor of The Health Care Ethics Consultant and co-author of
Core Competencies for Health Care Ethics Consultation:
The Report of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.