Biomedical Ethics And The Law

In the past few years, an increasing number of colleges and universities have added courses in biomedical ethics to their curricula. To some extent, these additions serve to satisfy student demands for "relevance. " But it is also true that such changes reflect a deepening desire on the part of the academic community to deal effectively with a host of problems which must be solved if we are to have a health-care delivery system which is efficient, humane, and just. To a large degree, these problems are the unique result of both rapidly changing moral values and dramatic advances in biomedical technology. The past decade has witnessed sudden and conspicuous controversy over the morality and legality of new practices relating to abortion, therapy for the mentally ill, experimentation using human subjects, forms of genetic interven tion, and euthanasia. Malpractice suits abound, and astronomical fees for malpractice insurance threaten the very possibility of medical and health-care practice. Without the backing of a clear moral consensus, the law is frequently forced into resolving these conflicts only to see the moral issues involved still hotly debated and the validity of the existing law further questioned. Take abortion, for example. Rather than settling the legal issue, the Supreme Court's original abortion decision in Roe v. Wade (1973), seems only to have spurred further legal debate. And of course, whether or not abortion is a mo rally ac ceptable procedure is still the subject of heated dispute.

"Doctors have been concerned with ethics since the earliest days of medical practice. Traditionally, medical practitioners have been expected to be motivated by a desire to help their patients. Ethical codes and systems, such as the Hippocratic Oath, have emphasised this. During the latter half of the 20th century, advances in medical science, in conjunction with social and political changes, meant that the accepted conventions of the doctor/patient relationship were increasingly being questioned. After the Nuremberg Trials, in which the crimes of Nazi doctors, among others, were exposed, it became clear that doctors cannot be assumed to be good simply by virtue of their profession. Not only this, but doctors who transgress moral boundaries can harm people in the most appalling ways"--

This is a short textbook of ethics and law aimed primarily at medical students. The book is in two sections. The first considers general aspects of ethics (in the context of medicine); the second section covers the topics identified in the 'consensus agreement'. The content of medical law is not intended to be comprehensive and relates very much to the ethical issues. The law will be updated throughout including: consent in light of Mental Capacity Act; mental health law in light of Mental Health Act; end of life (depending on outcome of Burke case and the passage of the Joffe Bill); assisted reproduction in light of expected changes in HFEA. New guidelines to be added: the guidelines and processes around medical research are under review and likely to develop and change; GMC guidelines are under continual revision (the Burke case in particular may have direct impact, but it is also likely that the confidentiality guidelines will undergo revision particularly in view of the increasing importance of genetic data). The new legal aspects outlined above will require some changes to the ethical analysis: the ethical issues of new technology will be included (cloning; transgenesis and chimera, i.e. forming organisms from more than one species) and stem-cells; resource allocation ethics is moving on to examining a wider range of issues than covered in the first edition and this will be discussed; the whole area of mental disorder and capacity to consent is an active area of ethical research and the second edition would cover some of this new work.

Bioethics: Legal and Clinical Case Studies is a case-based introduction to ethical issues in health care. Through seventy-eight compelling scenarios, the authors demonstrate the practical importance of ethics, showing how the concerns at issue bear on the lives of patients, health-care providers, and others. Many central topics are covered, including informed consent, medical futility, reproductive ethics, privacy, cultural competence, and clinical trials. Each chapter includes a selection of important legal cases as well as clinical case studies for critical analysis. The case studies are often presented as moral dilemmas and are conducive to rich discussion. A companion website offers a curated collection of relevant legal precedents along with additional case studies and other resources.

"In addition, a number of the earlier chapters have been thoroughly revised in light of current developments. The book is an addition to the library of anyone who is concerned about the interaction between modern medicine and Jewish law in the twenty-first century."--BOOK JACKET.

Medical Law and Ethics is a feature-rich introduction to medical law and ethics, discussing key principles, cases, and statutes. It provides examination of a range of perspectives on the topic, such as feminist, religious, and sociological, enabling readers to not only understand the law but also the tensions between different ethical notions.

This short textbook of ethics and law is aimed at doctors in training and in practice. Medical ethics and law are now firmly embedded in the curricula of medical schools. The ability to make clinical decisions on the basis of critical reasoning is a skill that is rightly presumed as necessary in today's doctors. Medical decisions involve not only scientific understanding but also ethical values and legal analysis. The belief that it is ethically right to act in one way rather than another should be based on good reasons: it is not enough to follow what doctors have always done, nor what experienced doctors now do. The third edition has been revised and updated to reflect changes in the core curriculum for students, developments in the law as well as advances in medicine and technology. The first part of the book covers the foundations of ethics and law in the context of medicine. The second part covers specific core topics that are essential for health professionals to understand. The third section of the book includes new chapters on cutting edge topics that will be crucial for the doctors and health professionals of tomorrow. This new edition includes a new third section that provides an extension to the core curriculum focused on four key emerging topics in medical ethics – neuroethics, genethics, information ethics and public health ethics. The chapters on Consent, Capacity and Mental Health Law have been extensively revised to reflect changes in legislation. Chapters on confidentiality and information ethics contain new sections relating to information technology, sharing information and breaching confidentiality. Each chapter contains case examples drawn from personal experience or from the media. This edition also includes cartoons to highlight cutting edge and topical issues. Most chapters include revision questions and an extension case to encourage readers who are interested in a topic to explore further.

In the past few years an increasing number of colleges and universities have added courses in biomedical ethics to their curricula. To some extent, these additions serve to satisfy student demands for "relevance. " But it is also true that such changes reflect a deepening desire on the part of the academic community to deal effectively with a host of problems which must be solved if we are to have a health-care delivery system which is efficient, humane, and just. To a large degree, these problems are the unique result of both rapidly changing moral values and dramatic advances in biomedical technology. The past decade has witnessed sudden and conspicuous controversy over the morality and legality of new practices relating to abortion, therapy for the mentally ill, experimentation using human subjects, forms of genetic interven tion, suicide, and euthanasia. Malpractice suits abound and astronomical fees for malpractice insurance threaten the very possibility of medical and health-care practice. Without the backing of a clear moral consensus, the law is frequently forced into resolving these conflicts only to see the moral issues involved still hotly debated and the validity of existing law further questioned. In the case of abortion, for example, the laws have changed radically, and the widely pub licized recent conviction of Dr. Edelin in Boston has done little to foster a moral consensus or even render the exact status of the law beyond reasonable question.