Preface.

• Author: Bopp, James, Jr.

The featured article in this edition of Issues in Law & Medicine, by attorney James Thunder, provides evidence of over 370 quiet killings that have occurred over the past twenty-five years in our medical facilities, defines the scope of the problems they present, discusses some problems in detecting, investigating and prosecuting these killings, and suggests methods for detecting and preventing the killings. Not only will the implementation of methods for detecting and preventing such killings save lives, such activity will save the reputation (and financial resources) of health care professionals and medical facilities by reducing their exposure to civil and criminal liability

The second article, by professor Raphael Cohen-Almagor, University of Haifa, Israel, analyzes twenty-eight interviews conducted in the Netherlands with some of the leading figures who dictate the decision-making process and take an active part in the debates. They were asked about cases of non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia that have been documented there. Most respondents were quite complacent with regard to breaches of the guideline that speaks of the patient's consent as prerequisite to performance of euthanasia. Although most interviewees believe that the official reports do not indicate a slippery slope, Dr. Cohen-Almagor concludes that there is already too much abuse.

The first Verbatim is an excerpt from the President's Council on Bioethics report on Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry, chapter six, part IV, entitled "The Moral Case against Cloning-for-Biomedical-Research." Here the Council Members present the moral concerns for nascent life and the moral well-being of American society These concerns form the basis for the majority report's recommendation of a ban on cloning to produce children and a four-year moratorium on cloning for biomedical research.

The second Verbatim is the Utah Supreme Court...