Mason and McCall Smith's Law and Medical Ethics

by Mason, J. K.; Laurie, G. T.; Aziz, M.

• ISBN13: 9780199282395
• ISBN10: 0199282390
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Mason and McCall Smith's classic textbook discusses the relationship of medical practice and ethics with the operation of the law. The subjects covered include natural and assisted reproduction, the impact of modern genetics on medicine, medical confidentiality, consent to medical treatment, the use of resources and problems surrounding death in the new medical era. It is of significance to anyone with an interest in the ethical and legal practice of medicine.

Author Biography

J. Kenyon Mason is Professor (Emeritus) of Forensic Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. He has been an Honorary Fellow teaching and researching medical law and ethics in the Edinburgh Law School since 1985. Graeme T. Laurie is Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at The School which he joined in 1995. In addition to his work in the field of medical law, in which he is an international authority on genetics and the law, he has wide interests in the law of intellectual property and is currently co-director of the Arts and Humanities Research Board Research Centre for Studies in Intellectual Property and Technology Law at the University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Table of Cases	xiii
Table of Statutes	xxxiii
Table of European and International Instruments	xli
Table of Statutory Instruments	xlv
Medical Ethics and Medical Practice	1	(28)
A basis for medical ethics	3	(10)
The organisation of modern medicine	13	(9)
Public relations	22	(5)
The doctor's position	27	(2)
Public Health and the State/Patient Relationship	29	(19)
Handling health threats to the community	31	(7)
The darker sides of medicine	38	(6)
The Human Rights Act 1998	44	(4)
Health Rights and Obligations in the European Union	48	(23)
Introduction	48	(1)
Health care policy in the European Union	49	(5)
Rights and access to health care in the European Union	54	(4)
Cross border access to health care in the European Union	58	(8)
Ethics in science and new technologies in the European Union	66	(5)
The Management of Infertility and Childlessness	71	(49)
The control of assisted reproduction in the United Kingdom	72	(2)
Insemination	74	(13)
The infertile or childless woman	87	(11)
The surplus embryo	98	(5)
The surplus fetus	103	(2)
Surrogate motherhood	105	(15)
The Control of Fertility	120	(48)
The concept of personhood	121	(3)
Contraception	124	(5)
Sterilisation	129	(13)
Termination of pregnancy	142	(26)
Civil and Criminal Liability in Reproductive Medicine	168	(38)
The uncovenanted child---the action for wrongful pregnancy	170	(14)
Reproductive counselling and negligence---the action for wrongful birth	184	(5)
Wrongful (or diminished) life actions	189	(9)
Wrongful injury to the fetus	198	(8)
Genetic Information and the Law	206	(47)
Genetics: the science and the challenges	206	(3)
Genetic counselling and fetal testing for genetic disease	209	(8)
Legal and ethical responses to the 'familial' nature of genetics	217	(2)
Individual and family interests in genetic information	219	(9)
Other parties' interests in genetic information	228	(12)
Research involving genetic material	240	(2)
The state interest in genetic information	242	(4)
Gene therapy	246	(3)
Cloning	249	(4)
Medical Confidentiality	253	(42)
The principle of confidentiality	253	(5)
Relaxation of the rule	258	(22)
Confidentiality and the legal process	280	(6)
Patient access to medical records	286	(5)
Confidentiality and death	291	(4)
Liability for Medical Injury	295	(53)
Compensation for injury	296	(6)
The basis of medical liability	302	(3)
What constitutes negligence?	305	(27)
Causation	332	(7)
Injuries caused by medical products or devices	339	(5)
Criminal negligence	344	(4)
Consent to Treatment	348	(64)
Non-consensual treatment	349	(24)
Refusal of treatment by adults	373	(11)
Other vulnerable groups	384	(2)
Consent to testing for HIV infection	386	(7)
Proceeding without consent---the consequences	393	(19)
Health Resources and Dilemmas in Treatment	412	(29)
Global distribution of resources	413	(1)
The allocation of national resources	414	(14)
Treatment of the individual	428	(13)
Treatment of the Aged	441	(23)
Autonomy and paternalism in the treatment of the aged	442	(7)
The individual patient	449	(13)
Care of the elderly in the future	462	(2)
The Diagnosis of Death	464	(13)
Brain function as a measure of death	465	(6)
The legal effect of applying brain stem death criteria	471	(4)
The case for legislation	475	(2)
The Donation of Organs and Transplantation	477	(34)
Technical aspects of transplantation	477	(5)
The living donor	482	(9)
Cadaver donations	491	(14)
The fetus or neonate as a transplant donor	505	(4)
Fetal brain implants	509	(2)
The Body as Property	511	(28)
Property in living human material	512	(13)
Property in cadavers and cadaver tissues	525	(4)
Intellectual property law and the human body	529	(9)
Conclusion	538	(1)
Medical Futility	539	(59)
Part 1: The Beginning of Life	539	(1)
The concept of medical futility	540	(34)
Part 2: The End of Life	574	(3)
The patient in the permanent vegetative state	577	(14)
The best interests test	591	(3)
Are we being honest?	594	(3)
`Do not resuscitate' orders	597	(1)
Euthanasia	598	(50)
A classification of assisted dying	599	(2)
Voluntariness in euthanasia	601	(1)
Involuntary euthanasia	601	(2)
Voluntary euthanasia	603	(1)
Active and passive euthanasia	604	(1)
Active voluntary euthanasia	605	(5)
Passive voluntary euthanasia	610	(14)
The inactive physician	624	(14)
The incurable patient	638	(4)
Artificial nutrition and hydration: feeding as a part of treatment	642	(2)
Terminal sedation	644	(1)
A need for legislation?	645	(3)
Biomedical Human Research and Experimentation	648	(37)
Ethical codes and legal instruments in human biomedical research	649	(2)
What is research?	651	(9)
Randomised controlled trials	660	(8)
Experimental treatment	668	(2)
Informed consent and the (in)competent research subject	670	(5)
The unethical researcher	675	(5)
Compensation for personal injury in research	680	(1)
Research involving human tissue and personal data	681	(2)
New approaches to research governance	683	(2)
Research on Children, Fetuses and Embryos	685	(25)
Non-therapeutic research on children	686	(7)
Therapeutic research on children	693	(3)
Fetal research and experimentation	696	(6)
Embryos and embryonic stem cell research	702	(8)
Mental Health and Human Rights	710	(31)
The evolution of mental health law	710	(4)
The grounds for intervention	714	(7)
Controlling treatment	721	(12)
Consent to treatment	733	(8)
Appendix A The Hippocratic Oath	741	(1)
Appendix B Declaration of Geneva	742	(1)
Appendix C Declaration of Tokyo	743	(2)
Appendix D Declaration of Helsinki	745	(6)
Index	751