Critical Choices and Critical Care brings together the traditional reflections on ordinary and extraordinary means with Catholic social thought. It examines the difficult questions on the allocation of high technology resources used in intensive care medicine. The book also provides relevant background information (e.g. statements by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). It is accessible to theologians, philosophers, and health care professionals.

Zusammenfassung
Critical Choices and Critical Care brings together the traditional reflections on ordinary and extraordinary means with Catholic social thought. It examines the difficult questions on the allocation of high technology resources used in intensive care medicine.

Inhalt
The Moral Paradox of Critical Care Medicine.- One: Clinical Questions.- Ethical Issues Raised by Intensive Care.- Ethical Issues in Intensive Care: Criteria for Treatment Within the Creation of a Health Insurance Morality.- Commentary on: Brody & Rie.- Intensive Care: Its Nature and Problems.- Ethical Issues in Critical Care: Criteria for Treatment.- Two: Moral Reflections on The Clinic.- Conserving Life and Conserving Means: Lead Us Not Into Temptation.- The Old and the New In the Doctrine of the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Means.- Admission to and Removal From Intensive Care: A Personalist Approach.- The Notion of Criterion in Critical Care Ethics.- Distributive Justice in the Era of the Benefit Package: The Dispute Over the Oregon Basic Health Services Act.- three: appendices.- Appendix a. Pope pius xii/the prolongation of life.- Appendix b. Congregation for the doctrine of the faith /Declaration on euthanasia.- Appendix c. Society of critical care medicine ethicsCommittee/consensus statement on the triage of Critically ill patients.- Notes on contributors.