Ronald P. Hamel is senior director of ethics for the Catholic Health Association. He is the author of Making Health Care Decisions: A Catholic Guide. James J. Walter is the Austin & Ann O'Malley Professor of Bioethics and chair of the Bioethics Institute of Loyola Marymount University. He is coauthor of The New Genetic Medicine: Theological and Ethical Reflections and Contemporary Issues in Bioethics: A Catholic Perspective.

In an age when multiculturalism and respect for the sources of ethical understanding is urged, Artificial Nutrition and Hydration and the Permanently Unconscious Patient provides readers a scholarly opportunity to experience the method of Catholic theology in facing ethical questions in medicine ... [Recommended] for those on ethics committees, physicians, and other caregivers who can take time to read some of the challenging material and to all persons who desire insight into how religious traditions consider critical issues in medical care. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Hamel and Walter have done a significant service by providing the reader with the medical, legal, theological, and magisterial materials necessary to formulate a position on the significance of the prudential teaching offered in John Paul II's 2004 allocution and the CDF response to the American bishops on the obligation to use artificial nutrition and hydration to prolong life. Theological Studies This is an essential book for any library that aspires to maintain a decent bioethics section. It contains a substantial collection of essay and official teaching documents that seek to present and develop Roman Catholic teaching on the care of patients who are permanently unconscious ... In one book ... the student is given a comprehensive and up-to-date series of reflections on one of the most controversial bioethical issues. Theological Book Review This book will be valuable to anyone working in medicine or medical ethics. And since it is my practice to respect my patients' religious beliefs, I think the book is absolutely necessary. Journal of Palliative Medicine A welcome and valuable collection of essays which should be widely used by experts, graduate students, and anyone wishing to become better informed on the status quaestionis of this particular end-of-life health care debate. Catholic Books Review Provides an unbiased and well-balanced account of the various isses invloved in the use of ANH with PVS patients from a Catholic perspective. It is highly recommended for those working with PVS patients in the hospital, long term care, community settings and anyone wanting to challenge their beliefs on the matter. Provinical Health Ethics Network

• Introduction: The State of the Debate PART ONE: Medical Perspectives1. Position of the American Academy of Neurology on Certain Aspects of the Care and Management of the Persistent Vegetative State PatientAmerican Academy of Neurology 2. Feeding Tubes: Sorting Out the IssuesMyles N. Sheehan, SJ PART TWO: The Catholic Tradition and Historical Perspectives 3. Catholic Teaching on Prolonging Life: Setting the Record StraightMichael R. Panicola 4. A History of Ordinary and Extraordinary MeansDonald E. Henke 5. Must We Preserve Life?Ronald Hamel and Michael Panicola PART THREE: Ecclesiastical and Pastoral Perspectives 6. The Prolongation of LifePope Pius XII 7. Declaration on EuthanasiaSacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 8. The Artificial Prolongation of LifePontifical Academy of Sciences9. On Withdrawing Artificial Nutrition and HydrationTexas Bishops and the Texas Conference of Catholic Health Facilities 10. Nutrition and Hydration: Moral and Pastoral ReflectionsNational Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities 11. Ethical and Religious Directives: Introduction to Part V and Directives 57-58United States Conference of Catholic Bishops PART FOUR: Ethical and Theological Perspectives12. The PVS Patient and the Forgoing/Withdrawing of Medical Nutrition and HydrationThomas A. Shannon and James J. Walter 13. Should Nutrition and Hydration Be Provided to Permanently Unconscious and Other Mentally Disabled Persons?Germain Grisez 14. End-of-Life Care RevisitedDaniel P. Sulmasy, OFM PART FIVE: John Paul II's Papal Allocution and Responses 15. Care for Patients in a "Permanent" Vegetative StatePope John Paul II 16. John Paul II on the "Vegetative State"Richard M. Doerflinger 17. Medically Assisted Nutrition and Hydration: A Contribution to the DialogueMark Repenshek and John Paul Slosar 18. Assisted Nutrition and Hydration and the Catholic TraditionThomas A. Shannon and James J. Walter 19. Reflections on the Papal Allocution Concerning Care for Persistent Vegetative State PatientsKevin O'Rourke, OP PART SIX: Legal and Public Policy Perspectives 20. The Clarence Herbert Case: Was Withdrawal of Treatment Justified?John R. Connery, SJ21. Caring or Starving? The Case of Claire ConroyRichard A. McCormick, SJ PermissionsList of ContributorsIndex

Ronald P. Hamel is senior director of ethics for the Catholic Health Association. He is the author of Making Health Care Decisions: A Catholic Guide. James J. Walter is the Austin & Ann O'Malley Professor of Bioethics and chair of the Bioethics Institute of Loyola Marymount University. He is coauthor of The New Genetic Medicine: Theological and Ethical Reflections and Contemporary Issues in Bioethics: A Catholic Perspective.

In an age when multiculturalism and respect for the sources of ethical understanding is urged, Artificial Nutrition and Hydration and the Permanently Unconscious Patient provides readers a scholarly opportunity to experience the method of Catholic theology in facing ethical questions in medicine ... [Recommended] for those on ethics committees, physicians, and other caregivers who can take time to read some of the challenging material and to all persons who desire insight into how religious traditions consider critical issues in medical care. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Hamel and Walter have done a significant service by providing the reader with the medical, legal, theological, and magisterial materials necessary to formulate a position on the significance of the prudential teaching offered in John Paul II's 2004 allocution and the CDF response to the American bishops on the obligation to use artificial nutrition and hydration to prolong life. Theological Studies This is an essential book for any library that aspires to maintain a decent bioethics section. It contains a substantial collection of essay and official teaching documents that seek to present and develop Roman Catholic teaching on the care of patients who are permanently unconscious ... In one book ... the student is given a comprehensive and up-to-date series of reflections on one of the most controversial bioethical issues. Theological Book Review This book will be valuable to anyone working in medicine or medical ethics. And since it is my practice to respect my patients' religious beliefs, I think the book is absolutely necessary. Journal of Palliative Medicine A welcome and valuable collection of essays which should be widely used by experts, graduate students, and anyone wishing to become better informed on the status quaestionis of this particular end-of-life health care debate. Catholic Books Review Provides an unbiased and well-balanced account of the various isses invloved in the use of ANH with PVS patients from a Catholic perspective. It is highly recommended for those working with PVS patients in the hospital, long term care, community settings and anyone wanting to challenge their beliefs on the matter. Provinical Health Ethics Network

• Introduction: The State of the Debate PART ONE: Medical Perspectives1. Position of the American Academy of Neurology on Certain Aspects of the Care and Management of the Persistent Vegetative State PatientAmerican Academy of Neurology 2. Feeding Tubes: Sorting Out the IssuesMyles N. Sheehan, SJ PART TWO: The Catholic Tradition and Historical Perspectives 3. Catholic Teaching on Prolonging Life: Setting the Record StraightMichael R. Panicola 4. A History of Ordinary and Extraordinary MeansDonald E. Henke 5. Must We Preserve Life?Ronald Hamel and Michael Panicola PART THREE: Ecclesiastical and Pastoral Perspectives 6. The Prolongation of LifePope Pius XII 7. Declaration on EuthanasiaSacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 8. The Artificial Prolongation of LifePontifical Academy of Sciences9. On Withdrawing Artificial Nutrition and HydrationTexas Bishops and the Texas Conference of Catholic Health Facilities 10. Nutrition and Hydration: Moral and Pastoral ReflectionsNational Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities 11. Ethical and Religious Directives: Introduction to Part V and Directives 57-58United States Conference of Catholic Bishops PART FOUR: Ethical and Theological Perspectives12. The PVS Patient and the Forgoing/Withdrawing of Medical Nutrition and HydrationThomas A. Shannon and James J. Walter 13. Should Nutrition and Hydration Be Provided to Permanently Unconscious and Other Mentally Disabled Persons?Germain Grisez 14. End-of-Life Care RevisitedDaniel P. Sulmasy, OFM PART FIVE: John Paul II's Papal Allocution and Responses 15. Care for Patients in a "Permanent" Vegetative StatePope John Paul II 16. John Paul II on the "Vegetative State"Richard M. Doerflinger 17. Medically Assisted Nutrition and Hydration: A Contribution to the DialogueMark Repenshek and John Paul Slosar 18. Assisted Nutrition and Hydration and the Catholic TraditionThomas A. Shannon and James J. Walter 19. Reflections on the Papal Allocution Concerning Care for Persistent Vegetative State PatientsKevin O'Rourke, OP PART SIX: Legal and Public Policy Perspectives 20. The Clarence Herbert Case: Was Withdrawal of Treatment Justified?John R. Connery, SJ21. Caring or Starving? The Case of Claire ConroyRichard A. McCormick, SJ PermissionsList of ContributorsIndex

Ronald P. Hamel is senior director of ethics for the Catholic Health Association. He is the author of Making Health Care Decisions: A Catholic Guide. James J. Walter is the Austin & Ann O'Malley Professor of Bioethics and chair of the Bioethics Institute of Loyola Marymount University. He is coauthor of The New Genetic Medicine: Theological and Ethical Reflections and Contemporary Issues in Bioethics: A Catholic Perspective.

In an age when multiculturalism and respect for the sources of ethical understanding is urged, Artificial Nutrition and Hydration and the Permanently Unconscious Patient provides readers a scholarly opportunity to experience the method of Catholic theology in facing ethical questions in medicine ... [Recommended] for those on ethics committees, physicians, and other caregivers who can take time to read some of the challenging material and to all persons who desire insight into how religious traditions consider critical issues in medical care. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Hamel and Walter have done a significant service by providing the reader with the medical, legal, theological, and magisterial materials necessary to formulate a position on the significance of the prudential teaching offered in John Paul II's 2004 allocution and the CDF response to the American bishops on the obligation to use artificial nutrition and hydration to prolong life. Theological Studies This is an essential book for any library that aspires to maintain a decent bioethics section. It contains a substantial collection of essay and official teaching documents that seek to present and develop Roman Catholic teaching on the care of patients who are permanently unconscious ... In one book ... the student is given a comprehensive and up-to-date series of reflections on one of the most controversial bioethical issues. Theological Book Review This book will be valuable to anyone working in medicine or medical ethics. And since it is my practice to respect my patients' religious beliefs, I think the book is absolutely necessary. Journal of Palliative Medicine A welcome and valuable collection of essays which should be widely used by experts, graduate students, and anyone wishing to become better informed on the status quaestionis of this particular end-of-life health care debate. Catholic Books Review Provides an unbiased and well-balanced account of the various isses invloved in the use of ANH with PVS patients from a Catholic perspective. It is highly recommended for those working with PVS patients in the hospital, long term care, community settings and anyone wanting to challenge their beliefs on the matter. Provinical Health Ethics Network

• Introduction: The State of the Debate PART ONE: Medical Perspectives1. Position of the American Academy of Neurology on Certain Aspects of the Care and Management of the Persistent Vegetative State PatientAmerican Academy of Neurology 2. Feeding Tubes: Sorting Out the IssuesMyles N. Sheehan, SJ PART TWO: The Catholic Tradition and Historical Perspectives 3. Catholic Teaching on Prolonging Life: Setting the Record StraightMichael R. Panicola 4. A History of Ordinary and Extraordinary MeansDonald E. Henke 5. Must We Preserve Life?Ronald Hamel and Michael Panicola PART THREE: Ecclesiastical and Pastoral Perspectives 6. The Prolongation of LifePope Pius XII 7. Declaration on EuthanasiaSacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 8. The Artificial Prolongation of LifePontifical Academy of Sciences9. On Withdrawing Artificial Nutrition and HydrationTexas Bishops and the Texas Conference of Catholic Health Facilities 10. Nutrition and Hydration: Moral and Pastoral ReflectionsNational Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities 11. Ethical and Religious Directives: Introduction to Part V and Directives 57-58United States Conference of Catholic Bishops PART FOUR: Ethical and Theological Perspectives12. The PVS Patient and the Forgoing/Withdrawing of Medical Nutrition and HydrationThomas A. Shannon and James J. Walter 13. Should Nutrition and Hydration Be Provided to Permanently Unconscious and Other Mentally Disabled Persons?Germain Grisez 14. End-of-Life Care RevisitedDaniel P. Sulmasy, OFM PART FIVE: John Paul II's Papal Allocution and Responses 15. Care for Patients in a "Permanent" Vegetative StatePope John Paul II 16. John Paul II on the "Vegetative State"Richard M. Doerflinger 17. Medically Assisted Nutrition and Hydration: A Contribution to the DialogueMark Repenshek and John Paul Slosar 18. Assisted Nutrition and Hydration and the Catholic TraditionThomas A. Shannon and James J. Walter 19. Reflections on the Papal Allocution Concerning Care for Persistent Vegetative State PatientsKevin O'Rourke, OP PART SIX: Legal and Public Policy Perspectives 20. The Clarence Herbert Case: Was Withdrawal of Treatment Justified?John R. Connery, SJ21. Caring or Starving? The Case of Claire ConroyRichard A. McCormick, SJ PermissionsList of ContributorsIndex