JPL-2010-38-4-14-Smith, Book Review

In this concise volume, Professor George P. Smith III ambitiously
tackles some of the most controversial topics in modern
science, health and medicine. Smith, a law professor at
The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., is
the author of numerous books on bioethical topics. Here, he
examines four subjects under the heading “the new
medicine”—modern American health care, genetic technology,
human experimentation, and organ transplantation—all
through a utilitarian lens (p. 8). In particular, he focuses on
how new technologies and resources should be allocated in
order to maximize social utility, which is Smith’s concept of
distributive justice. . . .