Issues in clinical ethics consultation: an introduction.

Any area that surges ahead as rapidly as this one [clinical ethics] has over the last five years is virtually certain to find that there are many problems which will need to be addressed. There will also be a need for persons working in this field (or studying it) to take some time to reflect on where it is going, as well as to examine some of the possible pitfalls -- both the obvious and the not so obvious -- which lie ahead. The series of papers in this issue of Theoretical Medicine have been written by a group of ethicists who have had a longstanding interest in the field of clinical ethics, and most of whom have spent many years working in the area. While all of the papers focus on the field of clinical ethics, they are very diverse in the topics covered. Some may be viewed as controversial by readers....