The Case of Terri Schiavo: News and Reviews "The case of Teresa Marie Schiavo will long stand as an iconic moment (albeit a "moment" that lasted 15 years) in the history of the "right to die" in this country. The media's feeding frenzy is largely responsible for the notoriety, but theirs was a curiously fact-free frenzy, especially light on legal perspective, ethical context and expert medical opinion. This book - assembled by three bioethicists at the University of Pennsylvania, including the ubiquitous Art Caplan - gives us what thousands of pages and hours of pathos-soaked reporting largely ignored: key documents, judicial opinions, state and federal laws, timeline, and representative commentary that explain and clarify exactly what the Schiavo case was and wasn't about. Scholars, politicians, academics and citizens will debate the lessons learned from the Schiavo case for many years to come. That debate will be thin stuff, indeed, if the participants ignore the material in this important and definitive treatment of Terri Schiavo's case." - Tom Mayo, The Dallas Morning News, August 9, 2006.
"With The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life, bioethicists Arthur Caplan, James McCartney and Dominic Sisti make a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate by allowing readers to digest the various source documents for themselves." - Nancy Frazier O'Brien, Catholic News Service. July 31, 2006.
"Decision making at the end of life is an extraordinarily complex endeavor. Those who wish to fully learn from the life and death of Terri Schiavo and who seek to deepen their understanding of how various individuals confront these difficult decisions will find ample resources in this remarkable collection of documents."- Paul Bascom, MD, JAMA. 2006. 296:339-340.
"At first glance it would seem that The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life is another focus on her case alone - but actually its focus on end-of-life ethical questions holds far more meaning for the living than for the dead of the past. The ethical dilemmas surrounding end of life are many - and are surveyed in depth in a coverage which uses not just Terri's case but similar cases to expose issues, struggles and obstacles to quality of life and survival. Essays cover everything from legal issues and points to ethical concerns." - California Bookwatch, May 2006.
"The only book I'm interested in reading about the Terri Schiavo case - if and when I'll ever have the stomach to revisit it - will be the new one co-edited by Penn medical ethicist Art Caplan. The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life breaks down the issues of Terri's death in a way that's enlightening to the national debate about who gets the final say about how we die. Unlike the other books, it exudes dignity. Now there's a legacy for Terri Schiavo." - Ronnie Polaneczky Philadelphia Daily News, Tue, Mar. 28, 2006.
"The case had a searing impact in many ways on Americans in terms of the battle, and the plight of the young woman, and the family fight was certainly dramatic and commanded everyone's attention ..." said Arthur Caplan, co-editor of The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life." March 28, 2006, The Guardian
"[This] book is a dossier that includes court documents, the autopsy report, the text of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's March 17 statement that questioned Terri Schiavo's diagnosis and various statements by the Catholic Church on artificial nutrition and other end-of-life issues." The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 19, 2006.
"...this book is an objective scholarly anthology of documents, reports, and opinion pieces highlighting the complexities of an emotional case...Highly recommended for academic, health, and larger public libraries." --Tina Neville, University of South Florida, Library Journal Reviews, Feb. 1, 2006.
About the Author
Arthur L. Caplan, PhD, is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. Prior to coming to NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Caplan was the Sidney D. Caplan Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, where he created the Center for Bioethics and the Department of Medical Ethics. Caplan has also taught at the University of Minnesota, where he founded the Center for Biomedical Ethics, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia University. He received his PhD from Columbia University. Dr. Caplan is the author or editor of thirty-five books and over 725 papers in peer-reviewed journals.
James J. McCartney, PhD, is an associate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics and an associate professor of philosophy at Villanova University. He is the coeditor with Arthur L. Caplan and Dominic Sisti of Health, Disease, & Illness: Concepts in Medicine.
Dominic A. Sisti, MBe, is a research associate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics. He is the coeditor with Arthur L. Caplan and James J. McCartney of Health, Disease, & Illness: Concepts in Medicine.
