This update of the 2002 edition examines the difficult ethical/legal issues increasingly encountered by physicians in treating patients with neurological conditions. In examining such critical issues as the roles of institutional ethics committees, informed consent in research studies, palliative sedation, vegetative and minimally conscious states, harvesting organs for transplantation from brain dead patients, physician-assisted suicide, and genetic testing for such still-incurable neurodegenerative conditions as Huntington's disease, Bernat (neurology, Dartmouth Medical School; American Academy of Neurology's Committee on Ethics, Law, and Humanities) provides a concise summary of relevant U.S. statutory, case, and administrative law. He also treats neurophilosophical issues of personhood. The text includes current medical standards and government regulations relating to professional conduct and patients' rights. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)