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Reviews and Notes: Biomedical Technology and Human Rights

Biomedical Technology and Human Rights Eugene B. Brody. 312 pages. Hants, England: Dartmouth Publishing Company; 1993. $46.95. The second half of the 20th century has been the most remarkable and concentrated period of advances in biomedical technology that the world has ever seen. These developments have raised unprecedented ethical and social issues that no one could have anticipated. Hardly a week goes by without a controversy about the ethical or moral correctness of the application of a new procedure or diagnostic test. In 250 pages, Dr. Brody discusses or at least mentions almost every conceivable ethical issue that has been raised by the enormous advances made in biomedical technology since World War II. This accomplishment undoubtedly reflects the author's long experience as a psychiatrist, academic scholar, and consultant to major national and international organizations such as the World Health Organization and the World Federation for Mental Health. In fact, the author's latter experience is one of the most valuable aspects of the book; he provides a global perspective on many of the topics discussed. In addition, he has a substantial and broad knowledge of general medicine, which is important to a medical readership. This book provides an excellent historical review of the international institutionalization of human rights and its relation to both health care and biomedical research. Early in the book, the author discusses the various declarations made on human rights at international forums; he starts with the 1894 Geneva Convention, which concerned the rights of victims of armed conflict, and proceeds to consider actions taken more recently, first by the League of Nations and subsequently by the United Nations. Dr. Brody then moves from the international scene to an intensive discussion of human rights in science and biotechnology. The comprehensiveness of this relatively small book is reflected in a sampling of the topics it addresses: organ transplantation, including commercialization; the new genetics (mapping, screening and prediction, patentability); counseling; cloning; psychosurgery; psychopharmacology; life extension or termination and euthanasia; and rationing. Finally, Dr. Brody reviews the issues raised by the use of new but unproven drugs in desperate situations (for example, the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), the ethical arguments underlying randomized clinical trials, restrictions on individual behavior, privacy, random drug screening, abortion and contraceptive drugs, and the denial of the right to reproduce (which occurs in China, for example). Inevitably, some of the jargon associated with ethics creeps into the text, but this does not detract from the interest and value of this remarkable book, which will be especially useful for persons who are not deeply immersed intellectually in human rights and ethical issues.