Socialized Medicine

Dealing with problems in health care

Scientific advances and economic forces have converged to create something unthinkable for much of human history: a robust market in human body products.

Heated debates are not unusual when confronting tough medical issues where it seems that moral and religious perspectives often erupt in conflict with philosophical or political positions. In "The Sanctity of Human Life", Jewish theologian David Novak acknowledges that it is impossible not to take into account the theological view of human life, but the challenge is how to present the religious perspective to non-religious people. In doing so, he shows that the two positions - the theological and the philosophical - aren't as far apart as they may seem. Novak digs deep into Jewish scripture and tradition to find guidance for assessing three contemporary controversies in medicine and public policy: the use of embryos to derive stem cells for research, socialized medicine, and physician-assisted suicide.