ABSTRACT
This chapter will also make suggestions as to how technology assessment (TA) might be modifies to better deal with the complex policy issues raised. The complexity of the interaction between biomedical technology and values requires considerably more attention to the long–term power of the technologies to alter values, often in unanticipated directions. The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) report on infertility includes a detailed and very valuable description of new techniques in human reproduction and of the social, legal, and ethical implications, it steers clear of recommending any limits on the development or diffusion of the revolutionary new technologies. The most important policy need is to bring forth a rational, systematic approach from the present multiplicity of agencies and activities to promote and coordinate medical technology assessment. The constraints, then, are political and social and reflect the high personal stakes that are inherent in the life and death issues surrounding biomedical policy.
