title: Moral and ethical decisions: to be or not to be. The 39th Walter J. Zeiter Lecture.
abstract: Throughout history, some societies have short-changed the weak, the elderly, and children with disabilities. In this lecture, I will explore some of the sad statistics related to dealing with people with disabilities, as well as attitudes toward, and treatments of, children and young adults with disabilities during the past 70 years. I will follow this with some suggestions for change in our society's attitudes toward this vulnerable population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Edison, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Strax
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000266:history / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D026690:Ethics, Clinical; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D028683:National Socialism / Q000266:history; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D010810:Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine; D010819:Physician's Role