Academic literature on the topic 'Medical policy Australia Moral and ethical aspects'
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Journal articles on the topic "Medical policy Australia Moral and ethical aspects"
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Emmerich, Nathan, and Christine Phillips. "Should professional interpreters be able to conscientiously object in healthcare settings?" Journal of Medical Ethics 46, no. 10 (December 3, 2019): 700–704. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2019-105767.
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In a globalised world, healthcare professionals will inevitably find themselves caring for patients whose first language differs from their own. Drawing on experiences in Australia, this paper examines a specific problem that can arise in medical consultations using professional interpreters: whether the moral objections of interpreters should be accommodated as conscientious objections if and when their services are required in contexts where healthcare professionals have such entitlements, most notably in relation to consultations concerning termination of pregnancy and voluntary assisted dying. We argue that existing statements of professional ethics suggest that interpreters should not be accorded such rights. The social organisation of healthcare and interpreting services in Australia may mean those who have serious objections to particular medical practices could provide their services in restricted healthcare contexts. Nevertheless, as a general rule, interpreters who have such objections should avoid working within healthcare.
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MAXWELL, BRUCE, and ERIC RACINE. "Should Empathic Development Be a Priority in Biomedical Ethics Teaching? A Critical Perspective." Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 19, no. 4 (August 18, 2010): 433–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0963180110000320.
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Biomedical ethics is an essential part of the medical curriculum because it is thought to enrich moral reflection and conduce to ethical decisionmaking and ethical behavior. In recent years, however, the received idea that competency in moral reasoning leads to moral responsibility “in the field” has been the subject of sustained attention. Today, moral education and development research widely recognize moral reasoning as being but one among at least four distinguishable dimensions of psychological moral functioning alongside moral motivation, moral character, and moral sensitivity. In a reflection of this framework, medical educators and curriculum planners repeatedly advance the idea that educators should be concerned with supporting empathy, and this, very often, as a means of improving on and broadening medical ethics education’s traditional focus on moral reasoning.
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Miller, Franklin G. "Research Ethics and Misguided Moral Intuition." Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 32, no. 1 (2004): 111–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720x.2004.tb00455.x.
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The term therapeutic misconception was coined by Paul Appelbaum and his colleagues to describe the tendency of patients enrolled in clinical trials to confuse research participation with the personal clinical attention characteristic of medical care. It has not been recognized that an analogous therapeutic misconception pervades ethical thinking about clinical research with patient-subjects. Investigators and bioethicists often judge the ethics of clinical research based on ethical standards appropriate to the physician-patient relationship in therapeutic medicine. This ethical approach to clinical research constitutes a misconception because it fails to appreciate the ethically significant differences between clinical research and clinical care.In this article I argue that the assumption that the ethical principles governing the practice of therapeutic medicine should also apply to clinical research with patient- subjects produces incoherence in research ethics and erroneous guidance concerning certain controversial research designs.
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Winch, Sarah. "Constructing a Morality of Caring: Codes and values in Australian Carer Discourse." Nursing Ethics 13, no. 1 (January 2006): 5–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/0969733006ne846oa.
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In this analysis I apply a Foucauldian approach to ethics to examine the politically prescribed moral and ethical character required of carers of aged persons at home in Australia and the role of nurses in shaping these behaviours. The work that spousal carers provide, although often founded on love and/or obligation, has been formalized through a variety of policy initiatives and technologies that serve to construct the moral approach they must adopt. This shaping of conduct at the most personal level takes place through the application of codes of behaviour policed largely by nurses. These codes redefine the mode of coexistence between an aged husband and wife and propose a new form of relationship that is derived from and supports policies of the deinstitutionalization of care services for elderly persons. In this way modern carer policy has drawn on knowledge and governance of the self to produce a morality of caring that is both authoritative and scientific.
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Self, Donnie J., DeWitt C. Baldwin, and Fredric D. Wolinsky. "Further Exploration of the Relationship Between Medical Education and Moral Development." Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 5, no. 3 (1996): 444–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0963180100007271.
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In the wake of a pilot study that indicated that the experience of medical education appears to Inhibit moral development In medical students, increased attention needs to be given to the structure of medical education and the Influence it has on medical students. Interest in ethics and moral reasoning has become widespread in many aspects of professional and public life. Society has exhibited great interest in the ethical issues confronting physicians today. Considerable effort has been undertaken to train medical students, interns, and residents In how to reason through medical-ethical dilemmas. Media attention has focused on Issues such as abortion, euthanasia, care of severely handicapped infants, organ transplantation, and so forth, producing heated debates in both the professional and lay literature over the morality of the various positions. The curriculum of medical education has paralleled and reflected this general Interest in medical ethics. Most medical schools now offer, and frequently require, course work in ethics. However, further research Is needed to better characterize and understand the relationship of medical education to moral development.
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Litton, Paul, and Franklin G. Miller. "A Normative Justification for Distinguishing the Ethics of Clinical Research from the Ethics of Medical Care." Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 33, no. 3 (2005): 566–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720x.2005.tb00519.x.
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In the research ethics literature, there is strong disagreement about the ethical acceptability of placebo-controlled trials, particularly when a tested therapy aims to alleviate a condition for which standard treatment exists. Recently, this disagreement has given rise to debate over the moral appropriateness of the principle of clinical equipoise for medical research. Underlying these debates are two fundamentally different visions of the moral obligations that investigators owe their subjects.Some commentators and ethics documents claim that physicians, whether acting as care givers or researchers, have the same duty of beneficence towards their patients and subjects: namely, that they must provide optimal medical care. In discussing placebo surgery in research on refractory Parkinson's disease, Peter Clark succinctly states this view: “The researcher has an ethical responsibility to act in the best interest of subjects.”
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Fallucchi, Francesco, Marco Faravelli, and Simone Quercia. "Fair allocation of scarce medical resources in the time of COVID-19: what do people think?" Journal of Medical Ethics 47, no. 1 (October 12, 2020): 3–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-106524.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an enormous burden on health systems, and guidelines have been developed to help healthcare practitioners when resource shortage imposes the choice on who to treat. However, little is known on the public perception of these guidelines and the underlying moral principles. Here, we assess on a sample of 1033 American citizens’ moral views and agreement with proposed guidelines. We find substantial heterogeneity in citizens’ moral principles, often not in line with the guidelines recommendations. As the guidelines are likely to directly affect a considerable number of citizens, our results call for policy interventions to inform people on the ethical rationale behind physicians or triage committees decisions to avoid resentment and feelings of unfairness.
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Forster, Melanie. "Ethical position of medical practitioners who refuse to treat unvaccinated children." Journal of Medical Ethics 45, no. 8 (June 27, 2019): 552–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2019-105379.
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Recent reports in Australia have suggested that some medical practitioners are refusing to treat children who have not been vaccinated, a practice that has been observed in the USA and parts of Europe for some years. This behaviour, if it is indeed occurring in Australia, has not been supported by the Australian Medical Association, although there is broad support for medical practitioners in general having the right to conscientious objection. This paper examines the ethical underpinnings of conscientious objection and whether the right to conscientious objection can be applied to the refusal to treat unvaccinated children. The implications of such a decision will also be discussed, to assess whether refusal to treat unvaccinated children is ethically justifiable. The best interests of both existing and new patients are crucially important in a doctor’s practice, and the tension between these two groups of patients are contemplated in the arguments below. It is argued that on balance, the refusal to treat unvaccinated children constitutes unjustified discrimination.
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Ilieva, Antonia G. "Ethical and Legal Aspects of Medical Screening for Early Diagnosis of Diseases. Prevention and Prophylaxis." Folia Medica 61, no. 3 (September 30, 2019): 451–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/folmed.61.e39410.
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Introduction: The main priorities of the implemented health policies in the Republic of Bulgaria are directly aimed at preserving and improving the health of the population, providing equal access of patients to modern and efficient healthcare, promptness and quality, in compliance with the normative requirements of the offered health service. In this sense, the focus of these health policies is to prioritize prevention and prophylaxis of early diagnosis of diseases. It is much more reasonable to prevent the disease or to manage it at an early stage than to slow down the treatment until the pathological processes develop into severe or irreversible complications. Aim: The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the effectiveness of existing legal acts governing the implementation of a common health policy in the field of health promotion and prevention. Another aim is to localize regulatory gaps and make relevant optimization suggestions. Materials and methods: The analysis of this systematic review is based on a thorough review of the existing regulatory framework (statutory and regulative legislation, case law, European practice) that concerns public health. Articles focused directly on the issues of medical screening and public health in a national and global perspective have been studied.Results: Two major legal acts, two regulations and strategies of the World Health Organization are considered. Suggestions for optimization of the control activity of the administrative bodies in the sector are presented. Conclusions: From the analysis done, proposals for optimization of the existing legal framework in the sector of health-care were made. The proposals were made based on the results of the analysis of w8orld trends regarding the methodology for state funding of medical screening for early diagnosis of diseases. The issue in question is up to date and raises issues related to legislative regulation, moral, ethical and deontological principles to which the medical profession adheres, as well as the health policy that is followed by the Ministry of Health in this aspect.
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DeGrazia, David. "Moral Status, Human Identity, and Early Embryos: A Critique of the President's Approach." Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 34, no. 1 (2006): 49–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720x.2006.00008.x.
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On August 9, 2001, President George W. Bush delivered a statement that would have a great effect on bioethics policy in the United States. The President stated his belief that human life is a sacred gift from the Creator, expressed his strong opposition to any type of human cloning, and announced a policy of restricting federal funds for embryonic stem cell research to studies on stem cell lines already in existence at the time of his statement. He also announced his intention to create the President's Council on Bioethics (PCB), headed by Leon Kass, “to monitor stem cell research, to recommend appropriate guidelines and regulations, and to consider all of the medical and ethical ramifications of biomedical innovation.” On November 28, 2001, President Bush formally created the PCB, which began its deliberations the following January.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Medical policy Australia Moral and ethical aspects"
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Loff, Beatrice. "Health and human rights : case studies in the potential contribution of a human rights framework to the analysis of health questions." Monash University, Dept. of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, 2004. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/5291.
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Davies, Evan. "Mandatory detention for asylum seekers in Australia : an evaluation of liberal criticism." University of Western Australia. Political Science and International Relations Discipline Group, 2007. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2007.0202.
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This thesis evaluates the policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers maintained by successive Australian governments against several core liberal principles. These principles are derived from various accounts of liberal political thought and the major themes and criticisms inherent in the public debate over the policy. The justifications of the policy given by the Australian government and the criticisms enunciated by scholars, refugee advocates and non-government organisations with respect to the policy strongly correspond with the core liberal principles of fairness, protecting the rights of the individual, accountability and proportionality. The claims of the critics converge on a central point of contention: that the mandatory detention of asylum seekers violates core liberal principles. To ascertain the extent to which the claims of the critics can be supported, the thesis selectively draws on liberal political theory to provide a framework for the analysis of the policy against these liberal principles, a basis for inquiry largely neglected by contributors to the literature. This thesis argues that, on balance, the mandatory detention policy employed by successive Australian governments violates core liberal principles. The claims of the critics are weakened, but by no means discredited, by the importance of the government's maintenance of strong border control. In the main, however, criticisms made by opponents of the policy can be supported. This thesis contributes to the substantial body of literature on the mandatory detention policy by shedding light on how liberal principles may be applicable to the mandatory detention policy. Further, it aims to contribute to an enriched understanding of the Australian government's competence to detain asylum seekers.
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Smith, Malcolm. "Regulating IVF and pre-implantation tissue-typing for the creation of "saviour siblings" : a harm analysis." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2010. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/35798/1/Malcolm_Smith_Thesis.pdf.
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Scientific discoveries, developments in medicine and health issues are the constant focus of media attention and the principles surrounding the creation of so called ‘saviour siblings’ are of no exception. The development in the field of reproductive techniques has provided the ability to genetically analyse embryos created in the laboratory to enable parents to implant selected embryos to create a tissue-matched child who may be able to cure an existing sick child. The research undertaken in this thesis examines the regulatory frameworks overseeing the delivery of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in Australia and the United Kingdom and considers how those frameworks impact on the accessibility of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures for the creation of ‘saviour siblings’. In some jurisdictions, the accessibility of such techniques is limited by statutory requirements. The limitations and restrictions imposed by the state in relation to the technology are analysed in order to establish whether such restrictions are justified. The analysis is conducted on the basis of a harm framework. The framework seeks to establish whether those affected by the use of the technology (including the child who will be created) are harmed. In order to undertake such evaluation, the concept of harm is considered under the scope of John Stuart Mill’s liberal theory and the Harm Principle is used as a normative tool to judge whether the level of harm that may result, justifies state intervention or restriction with the reproductive decision-making of parents in this context. The harm analysis conducted in this thesis seeks to determine an appropriate regulatory response in relation to the use of pre-implantation tissue-typing for the creation of ‘saviour siblings’. The proposals outlined in the last part of this thesis seek to address the concern that harm may result from the practice of pre-implantation tissue-typing. The current regulatory frameworks in place are also analysed on the basis of the harm framework established in this thesis. The material referred to in this thesis reflects the law and policy in place in Australia and the UK at the time the thesis was submitted for examination (December 2009).
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Hammer, Sara Jeanne. "The rise of liberal independence and the decline of the welfare state." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2002.
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Given the increased interdependency caused by ongoing task differentiation and precarious formal employment, this thesis asks why the stigmatisation of unemployed citizens and the retraction of unemployment benefits have received such widespread support in Australia. I contend that the concepts of dependency and independence, as reflexive
but mutually exclusive dual values, are increasingly used as a framework for welfare discourse. I argue that this framework has ethical ramifications for collective well-being in Australia since it discourages citizens from
acknowledging their own social and economic vulnerability. Using a combination of critical theory and discursive analysis, this thesis analyses discourses relating to poverty, unemployment and social welfare. It tracks the contradictions of this value dualism through selected forms of policy and media discourse literature and will challenge the negative moral valence associated with dependency, offering possible alternatives in the areas of moral anthropology, welfare discourse and social provision in order to reverse the stigmatisation of unemployed citizens.
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de, Andrade Marisa. "Pharmaffiliation : a model of intra-elite communication in pharmaceutical regulation." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/6500.
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In 2005, the House of Commons (HoC) Health Committee produced a report on The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry – the first of its kind since 1914. The inquiry concluded that there were ‘over-riding concerns about the volume, extent and intensity of the industry’s influence, not only on clinical medicine and research but also on patients, regulators, the media, civil servants and politicians’, and stressed the need ‘to examine critically the industry’s impact on health to guard against excessive and damaging dependencies’ (HoC 2005, p. 97). It also noted that it is important to comprehensively analyse pharmaceutical regulation in order to ascertain whether there are systemic problems: In some circumstances, one particular item of influence may be of relatively little importance. Only when it is viewed as part of a larger package of influences is the true effect of the company’s activity recognised and the potential for distortion seen. The possibility that certain components of any such campaign are covert and their source undeclared is particularly worrying. (HoC 2005, p. 97) This study addresses this recommendation and was primarily conducted to examine whether recognised concerns are merely ad hoc or as a result of systemic flaws in the current system of pharmaceutical regulation. The work addresses a gap in the academic literature by drawing on the fragmented criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry in order to produce a model to illustrate how various stakeholders collaborate with drug companies to promote licensed products, and to explore the nature of the relationships between these elite stakeholders. The thesis begins with a literature review which determines who is involved in pharmaceutical regulation; how the regulatory system works; and explores the key role of communication in this process (Chapters 1 to 3). The recurrent theme is the neglect or exclusion of the patient/consumer, which leads to the development a model of intra-elite communication in drug regulation called Pharmaffiliation (Chapter 3). The thesis then looks for evidence to support or refute this model, using multiple methods (Chapter 4). Four case studies (with specific selection criteria) are chosen to test the model’s constructs and indicators (Chapters 5 to 8). The research uncovers systemic problems in the current system of pharmaceutical regulation which can ultimately harm the patient/consumer, and the implications of these findings are discussed (Chapter 9). Solutions on a micro-level include consumer involvement in decision making processes, which can be enhanced through public education and awareness campaigns and the instigation of public inquiries whenever drugs are withdrawn from the market (HoC 2005, p. 105). On a macro-level, however, this will involve critically exploring neoliberal capitalism and the empowerment of the citizenry (Street 2001).
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Tomasson, Kimberley. "Ethical consistency, the Canada Health Act and resource allocation : arguments for a rights-based approach to decision-making." 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/703.
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The purpose of this work is to show the importance of ethical consistency and its
application in the decision-making process when allocating health care resources with
respect to the Canada Health Act. Based on the specific decisions in its history and the
development of its principles, I suggest that the Act can be interpreted as indicating a
particular moral basis and that this could have an influence on how resources are
allocated. I will focus on three claims supporting the argument that services can be
delivered in a consistent and methodical manner that respects this particular moral
foundation. First, the outcomes of decisions justified by simultaneous use of logically
incompatible and distinct moral theories are problematic. I suggest that an approach to
reasoning that uses one type of moral theory throughout the decision-making process
results in less ambiguous outcomes. Second, based on key points in the history of the
Canada Health Act, I believe there is a moral theory, deontological in nature, and that it
captures the spirit behind the Act's development and current formulation. Third,
decision-makers in Canada should follow one deontological theory when allocating
health care resources to avoid inconsistencies, and to work within the moral framework
of the Act as I have interpreted it. A delivery system that consistently follows this
procedure may have different outcomes than the current methods of macro-allocation,
and these differences may have effects on the amount and availability of health care
services.
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Braunack-Mayer, Annette Joy. "General practitioners doing ethics : an empirical perspective on bioethical methods / Annette Braunack-Mayer." 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/19348.
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Bibliography: p. 379-394.xi, 394 p. ; 30 cm.
Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 1988
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Jiwani, Bashir. "Canadian values and the regionalization of Alberta’s health care system: an ethical analysis." Thesis, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8160.
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In Alberta, decision-making in the health system has been devolved to
seventeen Regional Health Authorities (RHAs). This thesis undertakes a broad
analysis of the values that underlie this regionalization.
Divided into two parts, the first half of the thesis develops a liberal
egalitarian theory for the distribution of resources in society that turns on the
importance of providing all people with the basic resources required to plan for,
develop and achieve their life goals. Four requirements for any health system
that seeks to uphold the values inherent in this theory are then articulated.
These requirements include the need for the health system to be sensitive to the
broader determinants of health, and the need for understanding the concepts of
health and disease within the context of the social and cultural communities
that the system is meant to serve. Part One concludes with an argument
suggesting that expressions of Canadian values cohere with the normative
theory developed.
In Part Two the evolution of Alberta's regionalized healthcare system is
traced. The values implicit in the regionalization of the health system in this
province are then examined for their congruence with the four requirements
developed in Part One. Following this, the ethical difficulties faced by RHAs are
considered. The thesis culminates with thoughts on the ethical challenges
Alberta's regionalized healthcare system must confront, offering
recommendations for how some of these challenges may be addressed. It is concluded in the thesis that while a regionalized health system is not
necessary for meeting the requirements elucidated, these standards can be met
with a regionalized approach. However, at least in the case of the Alberta
experience, a number of important changes would have to take place for this to
occur. Among these changes is a paradigm shift in the way health and disease
are understood towards a more evaluative approach; the recentralization of
public health initiatives to the provincial level; and an overall change in
governmental health policy recognizing that many areas of society, and
consequently the policies of government agencies beyond a disease-based
healthcare system, impact health and well-being.
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Still, Linda Joy. "HIV exceptionalism and the South African HIV and AIDS epidemic: perspectives of health care workers in Pietermaritzburg." Thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1375.
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The limited success of HIV-testing facilities in South Africa means that many
people are not accessing necessary antiretroviral treatment services. This
study investigates the practical implications of HIV exceptionalism inherent in
Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT). A semi-structured interview
schedule was used to survey participants for their perspectives on barriers to
HIV-testing uptake as well as the effects of exceptionalist practices at VCT
clinics. Responses showed marked perceptions of gender differences in
people's willingness to test and several important barriers including problems
of access to services. Significantly, exceptionalism displayed in certain clinic
procedures was thought to contribute to stigma, and attempts to normalise
HIV practice in order to combat the effects of stigma were being informally
implemented. Participants' views on routine opt-out testing were explored.
The researcher recommended further investigation on how HIV testing and
treatment policies can be normalised so as to reduce stigma and increase
testing uptake.Social Work
M.A. Sociology (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)
Books on the topic "Medical policy Australia Moral and ethical aspects"
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Trusting doctors: The decline of moral authority in American medicine. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008.
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1940-, Shannon Thomas A., ed. Health care policy: A reader. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.
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Johnson, Tracy L. Managed care: An ethical and policy analysis. [Denver]: Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues, University of Denver, 1997.
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Giordano, James J., and Mark V. Boswell. Pain medicine: Philosophy, ethics, and policy. Yarnton, Oxon (UK): Linton Atlantic Books, Ltd., 2009.
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Individual liberty and medical control. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate Pub., 1998.
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Bioethics and secular humanism: The search for a common morality. London: SCM Press, 1991.
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Plant, Raymond. Can there be a right to health care? Southampton: University of Southampton, Institute for Health Policy Studies, 1989.
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Plant, Raymond. Can there be a right to health care? Southampton: Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of Southampton, 1989.
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(Canada), Medical Research Council. Tri-council policy statement: Ethical conduct for research involving humans. Ottawa, Ont: Medical Research Council of Canada, 2003.
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(Canada), Medical Research Council. Tri-council policy statement: Ethical conduct for research involving humans. Ottawa: Medical Research Council of Canada, 1998.
Find full textBook chapters on the topic "Medical policy Australia Moral and ethical aspects"
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Hollander, Rachelle D. "Expert Claims and Social Decisions: Science, Politics, and Responsibility." In Acceptable Evidence. Oxford University Press, 1994. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195089295.003.0014.
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Concern for relationships among ethics, values, policy, and science and engineering is prominent in modern society. The existence of a program called Ethics and Values Studies in an agency of the U.S. government, the National Science Foundation, provides some evidence of this (Hollander 1987a, 1987b; Hollander and Steneck 1990). The bills introduced in the U.S. Congress to support bio(medical) ethics centers through the National Institutes of Health also provide evidence (U.S. Senate 1988). New initiatives support research and related activities in areas of biomedical ethics in the National Center for Nursing Research and the Office of Human Genome Research in the National Institutes of Health. In July 1988, the Board of Radioactive Waste Management of the National Research Council devoted one day of a four-day retreat to considering the ethical and value aspects of that issue (BRWM 1988). In this chapter I shall attempt to show why such issues occupy particular attention now. My thesis is that a new acknowledgment of our collective moral responsibility is needed because of the political and social context in which science now operates. This context requires more sophisticated scientific and ethical analysis, as well as scientists, engineers, policymakers, interested scholars, and others working together to determine not just acceptable risk but also acceptable evidence. To provide perspective on these matters, we should note that interactions of science, technology, and society have raised these kinds of problems for a long time. A play by Henrik Ibsen, An Enemy of the People, written in 1882, raises all these concerns. An Enemy of the People is a story about the possibility of contamination in the water supply that feeds a town's new mineral baths. The baths attract the summer visitors that have rejuvenated the community. A Dr. Thomas Stockmann has investigated and discovered the problem; he has documented it, and he is delighted to have made the discovery. He, after all, had warned the town fathers about the problem when they designed the water supply, and they did not listen. Now he presents the truth as he sees it—and he sees it in the worst possible light—to his brother Peter, the mayor, who had organized the efforts to construct the baths.