The Patient in the Family: An Ethics of Medicine and Families (Reflective Bioethics) - Softcover

"This book is a valuable corrective to much that is written in bioethics...." -"David V. Fletcher, Wheaton College Ethics & Medicine 1999 5.1 "The Nelsons have taken us forward in the work that lies ahead for bioethics . . .[their] approach is fresh and challenging...an important contribution to medical and family bioethics." -"Hastings Center Report ""Patient in the Family makes a significant contribution to bioethics by challenging the usual patient-centered dyad in medical ethics, one in which ethical problems about treatment decisions are framed as conflicts primarily between isolated patients and their physicians. The new approach provided here is more realistic and expands the context of ethical decision making, taking into account the needs and interests of families coping with the illness of a loved one ." -Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics "This is extraodrinarily well-written, helpful and even necessary book . . . The authors break new ground by considering both the family and the medical profession as responsible collectivities, not just patients and doctors as contracting individuals ." -Women and Health ""Patient in the Family is an important introduction to medical and family bioethics. ." -British Medical Journal

The Patient in the Family diagnoses the ways in which the worlds of home and hospital misunderstand each other. The authors explore how medicine, through its new reproductive technologies, is altering the structure of families, how families can participate more fully in medical decision-making, and how to understand the impact on families when medical advances extend life but not vitality.