Law, medicine, and social justice /

Palmer (Cornell) presents a fascinating critical appraisal of the impact of liability law on the caring function of institutional medicine. Through an analysis of a variety of court cases including those dealing with informed consent, living wills, battered children, duty to warn, and other issues, Palmer provides a detailed yet highly readable analysis of how these cases have either enhanced or--more typically--undermined medicine's capacity to offer compassionate and meaningful treatment and comfort to those who are ill. What really makes this book different, however, is the author's frequent contesting of the liberal arguments many have come to expect in texts such as these (e.g., his critique of the alienation inherent in present notions of informed consent). This book forces a radical reassessment of these positions in light of its commitment to local community control over health decisions. Good for advanced undergraduate and graduate collections in the health or legal professions. -A. J. Fortin, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Palmer investigates an area of growing concern: how to achieve a balance between innovative or experimental medical procedures and legal restrictions to protect patients' rights, as well as the rights of those who pay the rising costs of health care. He views the present moral dilemmas over law and medicine as an opportunity for "a common search for caring and justice." Throughout the book, Palmer attempts to maintain the balance between law and medicine by focusing on the institutional functions of each, and by using the "broad concepts of caring and justice as guides to judicial, legislative, administrative, and professional decision making." Viewing both law and health as social concepts, Palmer critiques "the current reliance upon ~~~`informed consent' as the moral and ethical basis of legal decision making in the medical arena." A thoughtful and challenging book on a timely topic. Notes; to be indexed. --~Sheila McGinn-Moorer