T attention of health professionals, especially those responsible for the planning of courses, conferences, and curricula for continuing education in the health sciences, current legal and ethical issues of health care that are created not only by scientific research and technological developments, but also by shifting emphases in cultural values. The editors are co-directors of the UCLA Program in Medicine, Law and Human Values, wherein these issues are explored in a transdisciplinary framework in monthly meetings of the UCLA Medicine and Society Forum (1). In this inaugural column, we will describe the program and its philosophy. Future columns will be topic-oriented, each dealing with a subject that has been or will be addressed in ;I forum meeting. Comments and criticisms o f the topics and their treatment are invited, as are suggestions for future discussion.
It is our assumption that human values are an integral part of medical practice and that issues such as abortion, genetic counseling, DNA research, treatment o f defective newborns, use of placebos, and euthanasia require thoughful decisions that cannot be made by doctors, researchers, lawyers, o r other professionals acting in isolation from one another. These issues affect the quality o f life for all members o f society and require perceptive consideration from many perspectives. Generally, these questions seen) best left t o experts-to doctors, lawyers, ethicists, and clergy. We believe, however, that they are not solely technical or professional questions; that good health care must engage the active cooperation of patients o r clients with professionals; and that all have something legitimate to offer concerning the place o f human values in health care.
Decisions about health care often must be made in the context o f the conflict of values requiring a searching analysis to arrive at a satisfxtory result. I t is particularly in this area that we seek to make a contribution. Hy articulating the value assumptions o f different disciplines, the gains and losses of any particular position may be more responsibly judged. I t is not our aim to advocate particular solutions in the forum or in this column. Rather, our intention is to illuminate the nature o f conflicting positions and to promote responsible decisionmaking in particular cases and in the formation o f public policy in a pluralistic society.
In a presentation on treatment o f defective newborns, for example, questions o f the infant's right t o life, the parents' right t o make decisions regarding treatment of their children, the doctor's obligation t o the patient, social concern about