Ethics And Law In Modern Medicine

Ethics and Law in Modern Medicine is a unique book that explores the field of medical ethics and health care decision-making through hypothetical case studies. The truly unique feature of this volume is that each chapter sets forth a hypothetical fact pattern which includes role assignments to encourage participants to actively take part in group discussions and debate the controversial and cutting-edge topics that are presented. Each chapter includes in-depth discussion questions which thoroughly explore issues raised by the hypothetical fact patterns, and suggested readings provide background for participants. Additionally, the volume contains excerpts from key statutes and case law which govern the decision-making process presented in each chapter. The volume covers a wide variety of issues including HIV, the health care rights of minors, consent and confidentiality, assisted reproductive technology, property rights in bodily organs, research ethics, religious freedom and the right to refuse care, rationing of scarce resources, surrogate decision-making, and several other traditional as well as unique ethical, legal, and social issues.

Ethics and Law in Modern Medicine is a unique book that explores the field of medical ethics and health care decision-making through hypothetical case studies. The truly unique feature of this volume is that each chapter sets forth a hypothetical fact pattern which includes role assignments to encourage participants to actively take part in group discussions and debate the controversial and cutting-edge topics that are presented. Each chapter includes in-depth discussion questions which thoroughly explore issues raised by the hypothetical fact patterns, and suggested readings provide background for participants. Additionally, the volume contains excerpts from key statutes and case law which govern the decision-making process presented in each chapter. The volume covers a wide variety of issues including HIV, the health care rights of minors, consent and confidentiality, assisted reproductive technology, property rights in bodily organs, research ethics, religious freedom and the right to refuse care, rationing of scarce resources, surrogate decision-making, and several other traditional as well as unique ethical, legal, and social issues.

This title was first published in 2002.The wide range of essays contained within this volume present contemporary thinking on the legal and ethical implications surrounding modern medical practice.

The rapidly changing face of modern medicine and the increasing involvement of public debate in its practice, are reflected in the wide range of contributions to this book, which takes a searching look at the issues which are currently at the forefront of modern debate in medical ethics and the law.

Over the last quarter of a century, the fields of medical ethics and of legal issues related to medical practice have rapidly developed for a number of reasons. Firstly, the provision of healthcare nowadays is based on a complicated partnership between healthcare providers, patients, administrators and organizations responsible for providing finance; this complicated partnership frequently results in clashes of views, opinions, and priorities, which have a major ethical and legal dimension. Secondly, a major event of the 21st century is the development of multicultural societies; healthcare-related decisions thus have to be made on the background of so many different ethnicities, religions, cultures and languages, resulting in a great spectrum of ethical and legal implications. Thirdly, in the modern world, people are more mobile and can easily and cost-effectively seek treatment outside of their country of origin or residence, which raises many ethical and legal issues. Lastly, the development of new medical specialties, modern and advanced treatments for very challenging patients, and the introduction of new technologies in medical practice have dramatically broadened the spectrum of ethical and legal issues related to medical practice. This book will therefore aim to cover in detail general principles and specific issues related to the ethical and legal dimensions of modern surgical practice.

Abortion, sterilization, medical experimentation, artificial ventilation, euthanasia, and organ transplantation raise important ethical issues. They also raise difficult legal issues in English law, but these have received relatively little attention from academic lawyers. This book discusses legal aspects of various ethical issues in modern medical practice.

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.

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.