Biomedical ethics

An overview is provided of bioethical issues recently under discussion in the United States. Six topics dominated the field in 1984 and early 1985: human gene therapy; in vitro fertilization and research with human embryos; appropriate care for dying patients, both adults and newborns; organ transplantation; resource allocation and payment for health care services; and the role of hospital ethics committees in medical decision making. Walters focuses on three of these topics: (1) the issuing of standards for somatic-cell gene therapy; (2) developments in the death and dying arena, including state living will legislation, the emergence of a viewpoint that artificial nutrition and hydration are not qualitatively different from respiratory life-support systems, and federal efforts to regulate appropriate treatment for handicapped newborns; and (3) the growing support among medical organizations for hospital ethics committees.