After the Nancy Cruzan case was decided by the Supreme Court in 1990, and ultimately resolved by the Courts of the State of Missouri, the decision to withhold or withdraw life-prolonging nutrition and hydration appeared to many to be as non-controversial as decisions to refuse respirators or dialysis. Even the Catholic Church held that, although there should be a presumption in favour of providing nutrition and hydration, the patient or the patient's surrogate could overrule this presumption, if either believed the treatment was disproportionate or burdensome. The Schiavo case changed all that. Although the decision to remove Terri Schiavo's nutrition and hydration was made by her husband - her legal surrogate - based on his wife's belief that such treatment was disproportionate, Schiavo's immediate family protested so much that the case took years to resolve. It eventually involved all branches of government at both the state and federal levels. The ethical dilemmas that such cases pose continue to stir great controversy. This in-depth examination of these dilemmas provides information and documentation from many perspectives. For anyone wishing an in-depth understanding of these complex ethical issues, issues many of us will have to confront in our own families, this volume is indispensable.
Arthur L. Caplan, PhD, is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. Prior to coming to NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Caplan was the Sidney D. Caplan Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, where he created the Center for Bioethics and the Department of Medical Ethics. Caplan has also taught at the University of Minnesota, where he founded the Center for Biomedical Ethics, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia University. He received his PhD from Columbia University. Dr. Caplan is the author or editor of thirty-five books and over 725 papers in peer-reviewed journals. James J. McCartney, PhD, is an associate of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics and an associate professor of philosophy at Villanova University. He is the coeditor with Arthur L. Caplan and Dominic Sisti of Health, Disease, & Illness: Concepts in Medicine. Dominic A. Sisti, MBe, is a research associate at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics. He is the coeditor with Arthur L. Caplan and James J. McCartney of Health, Disease, & Illness: Concepts in Medicine.
""Unlike many popular biographies that simply try to re-create events, this book is an objective scholarly anthology of documents, reports, and opinion pieces highlighting the complexities of an emotional case." - Library Journal "The Schiavo case constituted the perfect storm of medical, legal, moral, and constitutional disputes. In this anthology the editors have gathered a veritable treasure house of primary sources - from medical records and court documents to papal statements - to assist the reader in understanding the controversies and assess the issues. "The Case of Terri Schiavo will prove to be an invaluable resource for anyone teaching courses in law, medicine, and bioethics. Nowhere else will they find such a complete source of primary documents on the full range of issues that marked the Schiavo controversy. "This anthology is truly an outstanding collection of sources that would otherwise be unavailable except to the most resourceful scholar." John J. Paris, SJ Walsh Professor of Bioethics, Boston College
