Should surrogacy be allowed? What guidelines are needed to control in vitro fertilization programmes? What should we tell the children born in the wake of the 'reproduction revolution' about their origins? These are typical of the many issues addressed in a book which seeks to challenge the ethical basis for much of the legal regulation of matters surrounding birth. First published in hardback in spring 1989, Birthrights deals with a controversial area which continues to be at the centre o...

Thirty years ago, English jurist Patrick Devlin wrote: "Is it not a pleasant tribute to the medical profession that by and large it has been able to manage its relations with its patients ... without the aid of lawyers and law makers".Medical interventions at the beginnings and the endings of life have rendered that assessment dated if not defeated.This book picks up some of the most important of those developments and reflects on the legal and social consequences of this m...

The increasing capacity of medicine to intervene to save lives demands that we ask more and more questions about what death is, and why it matters. This series of studies on law, ethics and medicine contributes to the debate on when and how it is permissable to terminate life, to warn of death, and to deal with tragedy in its aftermath. The essays are wide-ranging, provocative and timely. Accessible to those from the worlds of both law and medicine, this work focuses uniquely upon an issue...

Death Talk asks why, when our society has rejected euthanasia for over two thousand years, are we now considering legalizing it? Has euthanasia been promoted by deliberately confusing it with other ethically acceptable acts? What is the relation between pain relief treatments that could shorten life and euthanasia? How do journalistic values and media ethics affect the public's perception of euthanasia? What impact would the legalization of euthanasia have on concepts of human rig...

A focus on the interplay between medical law and medical ethics makes this refreshing new textbook the most balanced approach available to students of law and medicine. By offering a unique chapter structure which gives equal weight to both the legal and ethical issues it allows for an appreciation of all factors at play in the field of medical law. In addition, its student-friendly writing style combined with critical analysis gives students the tools to engage with key issues and form th...

Law and Ethics in Children's Nursing is an important and practical guide on the legal and ethical spects of child healthcare that enables nurses to understand the legal and ethical principles that underpin everyday nursing practice. It explores the concept of childhood and children's rights, the extent to which their rights are upheld in a variety of settings, and the relationship between law and ethics and how they interact in resolving problems and dilemmas that commonly arise i...

Who should define what constitutes ethical and lawful medical practice? Judges? Doctors? Scientists? Or someone else entirely? This volume analyses how effectively criminal law operates as a forum for resolving ethical conflict in the delivery of health care. It addresses key questions such as: how does criminal law regulate controversial bioethical areas? What effect, positive or negative, does the use of criminal law have when regulating bioethical conflict? And can the law accommodate m...

Whether you’re new to higher education, coming to legal study for the first time or just wondering what Medical Law is all about, Beginning Medical Law is the ideal introduction to help you hit the ground running. Starting with the basics and an overview of each topic, it will help you come to terms with the structure, themes and issues of the subject so that you can begin your Medical Law module with confidence.Adopting a clear and simple approach with le...

First published in 1985. Medical ethics is a vitally important subject and currently a highly controversial one. Recent cases have highlighted both the intellectual and moral challenges posed by the dilemmas of modern medicine and their significance for us all. John Harris fives a fully up-to-date survey of the issues in this crucial field of applied ethics, including in vitro fertilisation and experimentation on human embryos.

To date, little analysis exists of the criminal process's roles as a regulator of medical practice and as an arbiter of bioethics, nor whether criminal law is an appropriate forum for judging ethical medical dilemmas. The conscription of criminal law into moral controversy and the (perceived) rise in criminal investigations of medical errors sets the backdrop for this innovative historical and theoretical analysis of the relationship between medicine, bioethics and the criminal process. Ca...

Deficiencies and shortfalls in the supply of human organs for transplantation and human tissue for research generate policy dilemmas across the world and have often given rise to major and deleterious controversies, such as those relating to organ and tissue retention practices following post-mortem examination. They also create an environment in which illegitimate commercial activities flourish. At the same time, patients are denied the therapy they desperately require and researchers are...

This book provides a comparative and accessible analysis of key areas of healthcare law, comparing English law with selected common and civil law jurisdictions within a framework of law and medical ethics, and encompassing pivotal cases, codes and legislation. The introduction examines medical decision making, and legal and ethical frameworks in Western and non-Western cultures.Part I examines healthcare law in England and Wales, including abortion, consent, confidentiality, childr...