Pandemic Bioethics

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every human being on the planet and forced us all to reflect on the bioethical issues it raises. In this timely book, Gregory Pence examines a number of relevant issues, including the fair allocation of scarce medical resources, immunity passports, tradeoffs between protecting senior citizens and allowing children to flourish, discrimination against minorities and the disabled, and the myriad issues raised by vaccines.

"Gregory Pence's Pandemic Bioethics offers readers a sweeping, whirlwind tour of many of the ethical challenges encountered as SARS CoV-2 emerged and devastated the globe. Pence is a skilled storyteller, educating readers about the historical context of pandemics and the ethical questions unfolding with real-time medical, research, and societal successes and failures. Consistent with his longstanding attention to classic and ground-breaking cases in medical ethics, Pence challenges readers to capitalize on lessons learned from COVID-19 in order to make appropriate ethical decisions during this pandemic-and in ones to come." - Christine Grady, Chief of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

"Pandemic Bioethics has it all, addressing historical and modern pandemics, policymaking and triage decisions, the development and allocation of vaccines, and current issues concerning privacy rights and vaccine 'passports.' This book is timely and necessary reading." - Jennifer Parks, Professor of Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago

Gregory E. Pence is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. A leading figure in bioethics, he is frequently interviewed by national news media, including CNN, CBS, and The New York Times. He is the author of several influential monographs and textbooks, including Medical Ethics: Accounts of Ground-Breaking Cases and Who's Afraid of Human Cloning?