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The University of North Carolina Press
240 pp., 5.5 x 8.5, 1 fig., appends., notes, bibl., index
Studies in Social Medicine
Making Life and Death Decisions after Terri Schiavo
Every day, thousands of people quietly face decisions as agonizing as those made famous in the Terri Schiavo case. Throughout that controversy, all kinds of people--politicians, religious leaders, legal and medical experts--made emphatic statements about the facts and offered even more certain opinions about what should be done. To many, courts were either ordering Terri's death by starvation or vindicating her constitutional rights. Both sides called for simple answers. If That Ever Happens to Me details why these simple answers were not right for Terri Schiavo and why they are not right for end-of-life decisions today.
Lois Shepherd looks behind labels like "starvation," "care," or "medical treatment" to consider what care and feeding really mean, when feeding tubes might be removed, and why disability groups, the faithful, and even the dying themselves often suggest end-of-life solutions that they might later regret. For example, Shepherd cautions against living wills as a pat answer. She provides evidence that demanding letter-perfect documents can actually weaken, rather than bolster, patient choice.
The actions taken and decisions made during Terri Schiavo's final years will continue to have repercussions for thousands of others--those nearing death, their families, health-care professionals, attorneys, lawmakers, clergy, media, researchers, and ethicists. If That Ever Happens to Me is an excellent choice for anyone interested in end-of-life law, policy, and ethics--particularly readers seeking a deeper understanding of the issues raised by Terri Schiavo's case.
"A thought-provoking, balanced personal and professional reflection on what has come to be known as the 'Schiavo case.' . . . Recommended."
--Choice
"If That Ever Happens to Me is a wise and sober analysis written with the desire to draw constructive lessons from a national tragedy. Shepherd is to be congratulated for ratcheting down the red state-blue state polemics of Schiavo and for her careful parsing of the medical, legal, and bioethical dimensions of the case. To her credit, she conceives of a sensible alternative philosophy of care which will help define our collective obligations to those in liminal states of consciousness. This important formulation will lead to more proportionate care for this vulnerable population, balancing both their right to die with the right to receive care."
--Joseph J. Fins, M.D., F.A.C.P., chief, Division of Medical Ethics, Weill Cornell Medical College
"Lois Shepherd has given us a thoughtful, nuanced and overarchingly accessible guide to one of the most difficult decisions any of us will ever have to make--the termination of life-prolonging medical treatment. She has taken the Schiavo case, too often a source of anger and heat, and created a resource of understanding and light."
--Kenneth W. Goodman, director and professor, University of Miami Bioethics Program; editor of The Strange, Sad Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics, Politics and Death in the Twenty-first Century
"In this masterful account of the interminable legal, political, and familial wranglings over the use of a feeding tube for Terri Schiavo, Lois Shepherd calmly explains why Americans continue to be perplexed when forced to make treatment decisions for relatives who are in a permanent vegetative state."
--George J. Annas, author of American Bioethics
"Lois Shepherd is uniquely situated among authors who have written about the Schiavo case: a law professor from Florida with a background in end-of-life decision-making law, she did not have a vested interest in the case as it progressed. This book provides insights and offers viewpoints that, if heeded, could help heal some of the bitterness that developed during the case."
--Kathy L. Cerminara, Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center
Cloth: $28.00
© 2009 The University of North Carolina Press
116 South Boundary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808
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