Worst Case Bioethics

George Annas is William Fairfield Warren Professor at Boston University and Chair of the Department of Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights, Boston University School of Public Health. He is also Professor in the Boston University schools of Medicine and Law. He is the co-founder of Global Lawyers and Physicians, a transnational group that promotes human rights and health. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the Institute of Medicine, and a member of the National Academies' Human Rights Committee.

"So the stereotypical charge that international law cannot be enforced for purposes of promoting public health is by and large a product of our frustration with the sloppy, sluggish, and cynical approach to health and human rights. Annas has provided an opportunity to begin this debate anew by using domestic cases and topics to illustrate that human rights is central to securing our individual and population health.""George Annas examines worst case scenarios in the American context and assesses their impacts on individuals, physicians and the government. He wistfully discusses the diverging views on disconcerting topics such as death and disaster." -- Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy

• Introduction: Scared to Death by Worst Case Scenarios ; Death and Disaster ; 1. American Healthcare ; 2. Bioterror and Bioart ; 3. State of Emergency ; 4. Licensed to Torture ; 5. Hunger Strikes ; 6. War ; Death and the Constitution ; 7. Cancer ; 8. Drug Dealing ; 9. Toxic Tinkering ; 10. Abortion ; 11. Culture of Death ; 12. Patient Safety ; Disaster and Public Health ; 13. Global Health ; 14. The Statue of Security ; 15. Pandemic Fear ; 16. Bioidentifiers ; 17. Genetic Genocide ; Index