Medical Ethics And Law

"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"--

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this convenient volume provides comprehensive analysis of the law affecting the physician-patient relationship in Canada. Cutting across the traditional compartments with which lawyers are familiar, medical law is concerned with issues arising from this relationship, and not with the many wider juridical relations involved in the broader field of health care law. After a general introduction, the book systematically describes law related to the medical profession, proceeding from training, licensing, and other aspects of access to the profession, through disciplinary and professional liability and medical ethics considerations and quality assurance, to such aspects of the physician-patient relationship as rights and duties of physicians and patients, consent, privacy, and access to medical records. Also covered are specific issues such as organ transplants, human medical research, abortion, and euthanasia, as well as matters dealing with the physician in relation to other health care providers, health care insurance, and the health care system. Succinct and practical, this book will prove to be of great value to professional organizations of physicians, nurses, hospitals, and relevant government agencies. Lawyers representing parties with interests in Canada will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its comparative value as a contribution to the study of medical law in the international context.

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 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.

Everyday Medical Ethics and Law is based on the core chapters of Medical Ethics Today, focussing on the practical issues and dilemmas common to all doctors. It includes chapters on the law and professional guidance relating to consent, treating people who lack capacity, treating children and young people, confidentiality and health records. The title is UK-wide, covering the law and guidance in each of the four nations. Each chapter has a uniform structure which makes it ideal for use in learning and teaching. "10 Things You Need to Know About..." introduces the key points of the topic, Setting the Scene explains where the issues occur in real life and why doctors need to understand them, and then key definitions are followed by explanations of different scenarios. The book uses real cases to illustrate points and summary boxes to highlight key issues throughout. Whilst maintaining its rigorous attention to detail, Everyday Medical Ethics and Law is an easy read reference book for busy, practising doctors.

There can be few aspects of life which have altered so dramatically in the past few decades as the relationship between medicine and the law. Treatments become more and more sophisticated as each advance in medicine is made. At the same time, the legal and moral issues surrounding such treatments have multiplied and have become increasingly sensitive and complex. Introducing the reader to important topics which include genetics, consent, negligence, research, assisted reproduction and mental health, the book outlines what the current law is, why it is so and what it may become in the future. Legal and Ethical Aspects of Healthcare is written by a lawyer and a doctor, each with extensive practical experience in the field. It provides wide-ranging coverage of the most important ethical and moral issues that face healthcare professionals, lawyers and the general public alike and it offers a unique insight into the problems that healthcare providers and patients can be expected to encounter both today and in the future. All healthcare professionals at any level of training or practice, lawyers and interested members of the general public. Book jacket.

This is an analysis of medical ethical concepts based on legal principles and court decisions, describing what actually happens in practice rather than what should happen and, where there are no precedents available, what is most likely to happen.