One of the most difficult problems that confronts clinicians and medical professionals is how to apply ethical principles to real decisions affecting patients. In this even-handed book, Foster examines the three main approaches to moral decision-making: goal-based, duty-based and rights-based. She examines the underlying philosophical arguments behind each, their relative strengths and weaknesses, and how they can actually be applied. She also looks at the problematic boundaries where best practice ends and experimentation begins. Is it ethical to experiment with new cures on people who are probably dying anyway? And how do you assess quality of consent? This book provides a thorough, non-partisan grounding in what the ethical principles are and what informs them. It is an invaluable preparation both for a researcher being interviewed by an ethics committee and for the people sitting on the committee, and will be essential reading for all medical decision-makers.

‘The case studies provide a useful training tool. Research ethics committees, for example, could apply the three approaches to moral decision-making and then refer to Foster’s analysis.’

Source: Modern Law Review

‘The book is beautifully written. The language is lucid, unambiguous, direct and affecting. The reader cannot avoid being repeatedly stimulated and made to question assumptions and prejudices. This is the sort of book that, if only students read books these days, should be read early in the undergraduate medical curriculum, and read again by anyone involved in research or research administration.’

Source: Family Practice

‘… the book can be recommended for anyone taxed with judging the ethical aspects of medical research.

Source: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine

‘… compelling reading for anyone who thinks deeply about the research they are undertaking … to read this book was illuminating and frankly inspirational.’

Source: Pharmaceutical Physician

‘Of its kind, this is one of the best I have seen, and I have no hesitation in recommending it to members of research ethics committees, beginning postgraduate and upper-level undergraduate students studying research ethics and anyone interested in understanding the theoretical foundations of research ethics.’

Source: New Genetics and Society

‘This is an excellent book that clearly benefits from the expertise of its author, Claire Foster … the book is beautifully written in a cohesive, open, inclusive and accessible style … I have only praise for the quality and construction of this very well thought out book … Certainly it is an invaluable resource for anyone involved in research with people, particularly in health care.’

Source: Nursing Ethics

' … a complete, easy to understand, framework for ethical review … Each approach is clearly and succinctly defined with interesting and pertinent examples … is relevant to anyone involved in the process of research on humans … it allows the reader to develop their own personal ethical position and possibly consider their own research in a completely new light.'

Source: Statistical Methods in Medical Research