Ethical problems facing the healthcare industry

The health sector proudly proclaims the development of new knowledge and technology which permit enhanced diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. Unfortunately, such developments may advance our capacity, but do not always provide complete cures. So-called "half technologies" often provoke ethical questions of how to deal with new consequences. Newborn intensive care units are common sites for the results of new-found ability to sustain a pregnancy to term but not assure a perfect infant. Serious ethical issues confront parents and care-givers as they struggle with decisions about seriously-compromised newborns. This article examines one unit's experience as a result of a major media exposé of its practice.