"[This book is] the most authoritative assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of recent trends toward the commercialization of health care," says Robert Pear of The New York Times. This major study by the Institute of Medicine examines virtually all aspects of for-profit health care in the United States, including the quality and availability of health care, the cost of medical care, access to financial capital, implications for education and research, and the fiduciary role of the physician. In addition to the report, the book contains 15 papers by experts in the field of for-profit health care covering a broad range of topicsâ€"from trends in the growth of major investor-owned hospital companies to the ethical issues in for-profit health care. "The report makes a lasting contribution to the health policy literature." â€"Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.

This book presents an up to date ethical framework for radiological protection in medicine. It is consistent with the requirements of the system of radiation protection and with the expectations of medical ethics. It presents an approach rooted in the medical tradition, and alert to contemporary social expectations. It provides readers with a practical framework against which they can assess the safety and acceptability of medical procedures, including patients’ concerns. It will be an invaluable reference for radiologists, radiation oncologists, regulators, medical physicists, technologists, other practitioners, as well as academics, researchers and students of radiation protection in medicine. Features: An authoritative and accessible guide, authored by a team who have contributed to defining the area internationally Includes numerous practical examples/clinical scenarios that illustrate the approach, presenting a pragmatic approach, rather than dwelling on philosophical theories Informed by the latest developments in the thinking of international organizations

NCRP Report No. 116 is the latest in the long series of reports on basic radiation protection criteria that began in 1934. It supersedes the predecessor in the series, NCRP Report No. 91, which was published in 1987. The current Report takes advantage of new information, evaluations and thinking that have developed since 1987, particularly the risk estimate formulations set out in NCRP Report No. 115. While the recommendations set out in this Report do not constitute a radical revision of the basic criteria, they do represent a refinement of the system enunciated in Report No. 91. Important changes include the utilization of revised tissue/organ weighting factors and the introduction of radiation weighting factors. Also noteworthy is the introduction of an allowable reference level of intake. Noteworthy too is the recommendation of an age-based lifetime limit for control of occupational exposures and a major simplification of limits aimed at controlling the exposure of the embryo and fetus. This Report, after outlining the goals and philosophy of radiation protection and the basis for exposure limits, goes on to review, in some detail, absorbed dose, equivalent dose, radiation weighting factors, and effective dose. Committed equivalent dose and committed effective dose are also introduced. Risk estimates for radiation exposure are presented and then the dose limits are enunciated. The Report also covers exposure in excess of the limits, limits for unusual occupational situations, guidance for emergency occupational exposure, and remedial action levels for naturally occurring radiation.