Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life by Arthur L. Caplan (Editor), James J. McCartney (Editor), Dominic A. Sisti (Editor)

Synopsis

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 noncontroversial as decisions to refuse respirators or dialysis. Even the Catholic Church held that, although there should be a presumption in favor 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. The editors have included a foreword by Dr. Jay Wolfson, Terri Schiavo's court-appointed guardian ad litem, as well as Dr. Wolfson's report to Gov. Jeb Bush on the case and Gov. Bush's reply; public statements by President George Bush and Senators David Weldon, Rick Santorum, Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, and Barney Frank; statements by the pope and other representatives of the Catholic Church on this issue; plus much medical and legal background material on both precedents to the Schiavo case and its aftermath, including the results of the autopsy report.

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.

Library Journal

In 1990, Terri Schiavo suffered cardiac arrest leading to a persistent vegetative state. Over the next 15 years, her case received international attention as her husband and parents argued over how to fulfill Terri's end-of-life wishes. 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. Although it would be impossible to include everything relating to Schiavo, the editors-Caplan is director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, and James L. McCartney is an associate and Dominic A. Sisti a researcher at that institution-provide a nice selection of works from political, legal, and religious experts. Included in this vast resource are the text of "Terri's Law," various congressional statements, an article explaining the concerns of the disability rights community, the pope's statement on life-sustaining treatments, and Schiavo's autopsy report. An extensive time line of events concludes the volume. In addition to the obvious bioethical discussions, political scientists will find extensive food for thought on the separation of powers at both the state and the federal levels. Highly recommended for academic, health, and larger public libraries.-Tina Neville, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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Biography

Arthur L. Caplan, PhD (Philadelphia, PA) is the director of the Center for Bioethics and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and author, coauthor, or editor of numerous books including The Ethics of Organ Transplants (with Daniel H. Coelho) and Who Owns Life? (with David Magnus and Glenn McGee).

James J. McCartney, PhD (Villanova, PA) is an associate of the University of Pennsylvania s Center for Bioethics and associate professor of philosophy at Villanova University.

Dominic A. Sisti, MBe (Philadelphia, PA) is a research associate at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics. He is coeditor with Arthur L. Caplan and James J. McCartney of Health, Disease, and Illness: Concepts in Medicine.

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