Medicine, Patients and the Law

Margaret Brazier is Professor in the Centre for Social Ethics and Policy in the School of Law at the University of Manchester
Emma Cave is a Reader in Law at Durham Law School at the University of Durham

From embryo research, cloning and assisted conception to neonatal care, saviour siblings and organ transplants, the advancements of modern medicine have transformed the field almost beyond recognition. As the law struggles to keep up with the rate of change, legal claims against doctors and the NHS have increased and practitioners increasingly feel under siege.

This acclaimed and accessible book provides a survey of the legal situation in areas as diverse as fertility treatment, surrogacy, patient consent, euthanasia and the definition of death, malpractice and medical privacy. The sixth edition has been fully revised and updated to cover:

- Over fifty new cases with the latest legal developments in areas such as court-authorised sterilisation, treatment without consent and confidentiality

- Analysis of recent Supreme Court decisions on informed consent (Montgomery v Lanarkshire [2015], assisted dying (Nicklinson and Lamb v Ministry of Justice [2014]), conscientious objection (Doogan v Greater Glasgow Health Board [2014]) and deprivation of liberty (Cheshire West [2014])

- New national and EU legislation on healthcare research, organ donation and data protection, plus doomed and on-going legislative reform proposals including those on assisted dying, NHS redress and medical innovation

- Recent guidance and reports such as the General Medical Council's Good Medical Practice (2013), the Francis Inquiry report (2013) and Select Committee Reports on mental capacity, with analysis of reforms within the NHS such as the duty of candour, legal aid and professional regulation

- Recent technological advances from assisted conception and cloning to human tissue and the regulatory response

Medicine, patients and the law will be essential reading for medical and law students, lecturers and healthcare professionals. It will also be of interest to anyone whose perusal of the daily news causes wonder, hope and consternation at the advances and limitations of medicine and the law and of the impact upon patients.

Introduction

Part I Medicine, law and society
1 The practice of medicine today
2 Doctors' responsibilities: patient's rights
3 Medicine, moral dilemmas and the law
4 A relationship of trust and confidence

Part II: Medical malpractice
5 Agreeing to treatment
6 Capacity, consent and compulsion
7 Clinical negligence
8 Medical litigation
9 Complaints and redress
10 Medical products liability

Part III: Matters of life and death
11 Pregnancy
12 Assisted conception
13 Abortion and embryo research
14 Doctors and children
15 Healthcare research
16 Defining death
17 Organ & tissue transplantation
18 Human body and parts
19 End of life
Index