Which infants should live? On the usefulness and limitations of Robert Weir's Selective Nontreatment of Handicapped Newborns.
The moral dilemmas of selective nontreatment of handicapped newborns have been widely discussed in the United States since the early 1970s. Weir's book is the first systematic ethical analysis of the pertinent legal and medical factors. His book is reviewed in light of the current government regulations and the formation of Infant Care Review Committees in U.S. hospitals. Weir develops ethical criteria for decision-making about malformed infants and suggests decisions about treatment be made on the basis of disease categories. The implications of Weir's recommendations for a number of critical cases are discussed.
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D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D026822:Ethicists; D028741:Ethics Committees, Clinical; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D028601:Euthanasia, Active; D035082:Federal Government; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007883:Legislation, Medical; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D018579:Patient Selection; D028723:Personhood; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States; D028761:Withholding Treatment