Medical Ethics & Law Research Papers (original) (raw)

For some persons who are facing terminal illness, severe permanent disability, or extreme old age, suicide may seem to be a rational choice. Suicide prevention services, however, do not provide for suicide as a sane, honorable choice in such circumstances. This paper identifies 17 specific considerations a mental-health professional may use to help such a person explore whether suicide would be rational or irrational. These considerations are formulated without antecedent bias towards prevention and without interpreting interest in suicide as evidence of depression or mental illness. Dying, severely disabled, and aged persons considering suicide on what seem to them to be rational grounds may thus trust and consult mental-health professionals about their plans.

- by Margaret Battin
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- Psychology, Suicide, Euthanasia, Medicine
- by Emma Nottingham
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- Medical Law, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Family Law, Contraception

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of requests for“mercy killings” by patients and their relatives. Under certain conditions,the patient may prefer death to a life devoid of quality. In contrast to thosewho uphold this “quality of life” approach, those who hold the “sanctity oflife” approach claim that life has intrinsic value and must be preservedregardless of its quality. This essay describes these two approaches,examines their flaws, and offers a “golden path” between the two extremepositions.We discuss the halachic and the secular views, arguing for a balancebetween the sanctity of life and the quality of life. We argue that, indeed,such a balance exists in practice, and that life is important, but it is not sacred. Life can be evaluated, but quality of life is not the solecriterion.

Inspired by a notion that machines can emulate human touch, the paper first examines the adoption of surgical robots in operating rooms at the global and local levels. The adoption of the technology has occurred almost concurrently in many countries without much time lag, and this near-simultaneous acceptance of the technology invites us to rethink technological supremacy in relation to patient care in the field of surgery. With focus on the da Vinci surgical system, this paper presents social and ethical implications of how (not) to regulate robotic surgery with potential and invisible risks with respect to patient care. Based on documentary analysis of news media in combination with literature review of medical journals, Korean news media, and Korean technology assessment reports on surgical robots, the paper explores how prevalently the idea of social progress is embedded in the promotion of advanced technology at the societal and governmental levels. I contend that the ideology ...

- by Eunjeong Ma
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- South Korea, Political Science, Public Health Policy, Health Law

In Peter Singer’s article “The Challenge of Brain Death for the Sanctity of Life Ethic”, he articulates that ethics has always played an important role in defining death. He claims that the demand for redefining death spreads rather from new ethical challenges than from a new, scientifically improved understanding of the nature of death. As thorough as his plea for dismissal of the brain-death definition is, he does not avoid the depiction of the complementary relationship between science and ethics. Quite the opposite, he tends to formulate a stronger,
philosophically more consistent argument to help science and medical practitioners to define life, death, and the quality of life. In my commentary, I would like to focus on two issues presented in Singer’s study. Firstly, I will critically analyze the relationship between science and ethics. Secondly, I will follow on from Singer’s arguments differentiating between end of life as an organism and end of life as a person. The latter case is necessarily linked with man’s participation in her/his life, setting life goals, and fulfilling her/his idea of good life. Through the consequential definition of the dignity in ethics of social consequences, I will try to support Singer’s idea.

- by Katarina Komenska
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- Bioethics, Medical Ethics & Law

Aim-To determine the gender using mental foramen as landmark on a panoramic radiographs in selected North Gujarat population. Objective-1. To evaluate and compare the superior border of mental foramen to lower border of mandible(S-L) and inferior border of mental foramen to lower border of mandible(I-L) value in males and females bilaterally. 2. To compare the S-L and I-L between right and left side in males and female 3. To utilize above measurements for gender determination. Materials and Method-Sixty panoramic radiographs were selected for the analysis of mental foramen. Tangents were drawn through the superior and inferior borders of the foramen (S-L and I-L respectively) and perpendicular from the tangents to the lower border of the mandible bilaterally. Digital verniar caliper was used for the distance measurement from S-L and I-L. The data obtained was tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. Result-The analyzed data of study showed that the mean values of comparison of S-L as well as I-L in males and females were significantly higher in males as compared to females. The comparison of SL and IL on right and left side in the same patient was without any significant difference. Conclusion-The results of present study concluded a definite sexual dimorphism in the position of the mental foramen from the base of the mandible; this method can applied in mass disaster where the fragments of mandible are available.

- by Rasmus Thybo Jensen and +1
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- Medical Ethics, Medical and Research ethics, Medical Ethics & Law, Medical Ethics, Bioethics, Philosophy of Medicine
- by Stephen Wilkinson
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- Applied Philosophy, Applied Ethics, Bioethics, Medical Law
- by Raphael Cohen-almagor
- •
- Law, Social Sciences, End Of Life Studies, Law and Society
- by Stephen Wilkinson
- •
- Applied Philosophy, Applied Ethics, Bioethics, Medical Law
- by Gunawan Widjaja
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- Medical Ethics & Law, Law and ethics in nursing

Instituting a civil right to health care in the United States would be widely beneficial. Access to health care has demonstrated benefits for physical health, which, in turn, has demonstrated benefits for mental health. Improved health, furthermore, has been demonstrated to be a social utility, positively affecting productivity, economic prosperity, and group health. Acknowledging the practical benefits to instituting a civil right to health care, an analysis is performed on related tenets of western philosophy which influences American law, culture, and thought. A description of human nature, rights, social utility, justice, and human capital is offered in the philosophies of David Hume, John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, and Adam Smith and proves useful in validating the proposed civil right from a philosophical perspective. The associations drawn by some of these philosophers between education, the market, and public utility enable a comparison of the two-tiered education system in America with a similar possible system for health care. A two-tiered system and possible organization of it is thus proposed and defended on the basis that it has a demonstrated comparable precedent, promotes the exercise of liberty, benefits the worst off among us, and increases competition in the market.

- by Samantha von Ende
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- Philosophy, Ethics, History of Medicine, Health Care

My Review is divided into five parts. First, I will outline the book’s strengths. I proceed by speaking of the need for clear and cohesive terminology. I will then discuss end-of-life decision-making in some of the countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, and the State of Oregon in the United States, all allow physician-assisted suicide. Belgium and the Netherlands also allow euthanasia. I will also discuss Israel’s Dying Patient Law, enacted by the Knesset on December 5, 2005. Finally, I will make some suggestions for improvement, including a detailed proposal for physician-assisted suicide which I conceive to be the best policy when balancing one against the other the autonomy of the patient, on the one hand, and the safeguards against abuse when life might be considered too lightly, on the other.

- by Raphael Cohen-almagor
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- Bioethics, Medical Law, End Of Life Studies, Medical Ethics
- by Eric Hu
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- Law, Medical Ethics & Law
- by Gah-Kai Leung
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- Political Philosophy, Political Theory, Philosophy Of Law, Medical Ethics & Law

A system that serves the liability and settlement of medical malpractice disputes or commonly referred to as medical malpractice system has been established in many countries to respond the rise of medical malpractice claims against doctors. Medical malpractice system in the United States of America (the USA) has been relatively well developed as compared to other countries. Beside adopting pretrial screening process in medical malpractice litigation, various methods of alternative to litigation have been developed in the USA. This paper aims to explore the development of the medical malpractice system in the USA and to see the possibility for Indonesia to learn. This normative legal research relies on the secondary data especially which were collected from online sources. It is found that there are some initiatives in the USA that can be adopted by Indonesia for improving its medical malpractice system, especially the establishment of pretrial screening panel. It is expected that pretrial screening process can eliminate meritless claims which later may reduce unnecessary legal actions against doctors.

- by Muh E N D R I Y O Susila
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- Medical Law, Medical Ethics & Law, Medical Malpractice Law

In the wake of numerous cruel and troubling execution methods, lethal injection seemed to be the answer to this country’s centuries-long search for a medically humane means of putting an inmate to death. However, lethal injection is currently being subjected to an unprecedented degree of scrutiny due to various factors, including botched executions, problematic protocols, and drug shortages and restrictions. An historical overview puts these circumstances in context. In 1977, a year after Gregg v. Georgia, Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection, despite the fact that the procedure had never been medically or scientifically studied on human beings. Even without proper medical justification, 38 more states adopted lethal injection between 1977 and 2009. As more states began utilizing lethal injection, the method faced more challenges, leading to a decrease in the number of executions being performed. The Supreme Court attempted to address these challenges in Baze v. Rees (2008), in which the Court upheld the constitutionality of Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol. Contrary to some commentators’ predictions, executions continued their downward trend post-Baze. In 2015, the Supreme Court faced another lethal injection challenge in Glossip v. Gross, which involved Oklahoma’s use of midazolam as a lethal injection drug. The Court held 5–4 that three death row inmates failed to establish that midazolam created "a substantial risk of severe pain" when used as the first of three drugs in state's lethal injection procedure. This chapter discusses the Glossip Court’s unwillingness to address key aspects of death penalty history and the blame the Court places on unidentified “anti-death-penalty advocates” for the factors driving lethal injection’s troubles – troubles which threaten the future of the death penalty.

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Berisi
BAB I. Pendahuluan
I.1 Latar Belakang
I.2 Tujuan
BAB II. Hewan Coba
BAB III. Macam-Macam Hewan Model Pada Penyakit-Penyakit Neurologi
3.1 Hewan Model pada Stroke
3.1.1 Cara Membuat Hewan Model Stroke Iskemik dengan mengunakan Mencit dan Oklusi Arteri Karotis
3.1.2 Cara Membuat Hewan Model Stroke Perdarahan dengan mengunakan Tikus dan Induksi Collagenase IV
3.2 Hewan Model pada Epilepsi
3.2.1 Perbandingan Hewan Model Epilepsi
3.2.2 Epilepsi pada Tikus Model
3.2.3 Hewan Model Sederhana untuk Epilepsi
3.2.4 Cara Membuat Hewan Model Epilepsi dengan Mengunakan Mencit dan Flurothyl
3.3 Hewan Model Pada Infeksi Sistem Saraf Pusat (Meningitis, Malaria Cerebral)
3.3.1 Hewan Model Meningitis
3.3.2 Hewan Model pada Malaria Cerebral
3.4 Hewan Model Pada Parkinson
3.4.1 Model Neurotoxic
3.4.2 Hewan Model Genetik
3.4.3 Ikan Zebra (Danio rerio) sebagai Hewan Model Parkinson
3.5 Hewan Model Pada Neuropati
3.5.1 Neuropati Diabetik
3.5.2 Cara Membuat Hewan Model Neuropati Diabetik dengan Mencit
3.6 Hewan Model Pada Nyeri
3.6.1 Hewan Model Nyeri Inflamasi
3.6.2 Hewan Model Nyeri pada Kanker
3.6.3 Hewan Model Nyeri Otot
3.6.4 Cara Membuat Hewan Model Trigeminal Neuralgia pada Tikus
3.7 Hewan Coba Pada Neurobehaviour/ Neuropsikiatri
3.7.1 Hewan Model pada Alzheimer Disease & FrontoTemporal Demensia
3.7.2 Model Protein Tau
3.7.4 Hewan Model Nematoda
3.7.5 Cara Membuat Hewan Model Depresi Post Stroke/ Post Stroke Depression (PSD)
3.8 Hewan Coba Pada Cedera Otak (Brain Injury)
3.8.1 Cara Membuat Hewan Coba pada Cedera Otak Akut menggunakan Tikus dan Alat Pengatur Ketinggian
BAB IV. Etik Hewan Coba
4. 1 Etik Hewan Coba
4.2 Prinsip Etika Penelitian.
4.3 Prinsip 3R dalam Protokol Penelitian dengan Hewan Coba
4.4 Dasar Hukum Penelitian pada Hewan Coba
BAB V. Penutup
DAFTAR PUSTAKA
INDEX

- by Yohanes Aria Rananda
- •
- Neuroscience, Medical Sciences, Neurology, Research Methodology
- by Stephen Wilkinson
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- Applied Philosophy, Applied Ethics, Bioethics, Philosophy of Medicine
- by Kate Greasley
- •
- Medical Law, Medical Ethics, Abortion, Medical Ethics & Law

The question of whether a framework legalising physician assisted dying ought to be adopted in the UK engages conflicting ethical ideologies towards the value of life and the rights of individuals. Currently the law in the UK prohibits... more

- by Jordan Renault
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- Ethics, Medical Law, Medical Ethics, Euthanasia

- by Eunjeong Ma
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- South Korea, Public Health Policy, Robotic Surgery, da Vinci Robotic Surgical System

Правото е техника на регулация на човешките взаимоотношения, опираща се на стройна, централизирана и йерархически построена система от норми и принципи. Ако рискува да заеме конкретна страна, натоварена с определена морална тежест, да приеме една морално обременена позиция като истинска, то тя губи своя всеобхватен характер и престава да бъде безличен и безпристрастен арбитър на социални явления и отношения. Поради тази причина при разглеждането на социални отношения, които нямат едно единствено решение от морална и юридическа гледна точка, правната система трябва да даде избор на лицата как да постъпят, да им даде свободата да действат сами в рамките на позволеното поведение. Само чрез дадената свобода и пространство на индивидите да действат по собствено усмотрение в морално сиви среди, правната система може да изследва и да заключи правилно как да се разрешат по безпристрастен начин конкретните отношения, без да спъва човешкия прогрес и развитие. Именно през тази призма ще се анализира и темата за евтаназията, набрала отново популярност и поляризирала обществото с оглед на морално сивия си характер и противоречива правна регулация.

- by Georgi Hristov
- •
- Criminal Law, Civil Law, Medical Law, Public Health Law

Downloaded from www.medrech.com " Rehabilitation of cleft lip and palate patients with a systematic approach " Sherawat Abstract: The oral rehabilitation of lip and palate patients is challenging and many of these patients are suffer if they don't receive sufficient dental treatment. Several techniques, including orthodontic appliances, surgeries, advanced prosthodontic rehabilitation and alveolar bone grafts have been proposed for the oral rehabilitation of these patients. There are still some difficulties in prosthetic rehabilitation of cleft lip and palate patients with conventional prostheses or implant retained prostheses because of insufficient alveolar bone quality and quantity, inadequate soft tissue, and abutment teeth. This paper is an attempt to review the systematic approach in management of cleft lip and palate patients.

- by Jonathan Beever and +1
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- Bioethics, Medical Education, Environmental Ethics, Medical Ethics

“The Right to Die with Dignity” offers a valid and up to date discussion on euthanasia. The text can be divided into three levels: ethical, medical and law level. On each Raphael Cohen-Almagor shows incredible thoroughness and exhaustiveness. The book contains many statistic data, court cases, examples and arguments for and against. The book is characterized by several virtues among which the fact that the argumentation is rational, clear, simple and above all with a remarkable human approach as a main feature. It is also an easy readable work, for those who meet the questions of morality and legislation of euthanasia for the first time, but also for those who gathered some experience in this subject.

- by Raphael Cohen-almagor and +1
- •
- Bioethics, End Of Life Studies, Dementia, Medical Ethics

There are few issues more emotional and divisive than what has become known as “the right to die.” One camp advocates the “death with dignity” approach, according to which the patient is an autonomous being who can form his or her own judgment on the timing and process of dying. The other camp advocates the sanctity of life approach, in which life is intrinsically valuable and should be sustained as long as possible. Is
there a right answer?
In The Right to Die With Dignity, Raphael Cohen-Almagor takes a balanced approach in analyzing this emotionally charged debate, viewing the dispute uniquely from public policy and international perspectives. This book offers an interdisciplinary, compelling study in medicine, law, religion and ethics. It is, arguably, the most comprehensive book yet to be written on the fascinating question of whether physician-assisted suicide should be allowed. Cohen-Almagor delineates the distinctions between active and passive euthanasia and discusses some of the legal measures that have been invoked in the United States and abroad. He outlines the reasons non-blood relatives should be given a role in deciding a patients’ last wishes. He examines euthanasia policies in the Netherlands and the 1994 Oregon Death with Dignity Act, suggesting improvements to each. Finally, he makes a circumscribed plea for voluntary physician-assisted suicide.

- by Raphael Cohen-almagor
- •
- Social Theory, Law, Criminal Law, Political Philosophy

Barriers of many different types make successful circumcision-related
lawsuits extremely difficult to bring. Actual cases we and others have brought show that among factors impeding progress are (1) financial risks; (2) procedural difficulties; (3) misconceptions and compassion misallocation among judges, lawyers, jury members, the media, and the general public; (4) constraints unique to circumcision lawsuits that are imposed by statutes of limitation and statutes of repose; (5) need for parental participation in lawsuits; (6) problem of damages not being atrocious enough to justify litigation; and (7) the scarcity of helpful case law. Players whose roles we will be scrutinizing include clients, lawyers, judges, juries, courts and procedures, doctors, media, and fellow activists. We will discuss the many reasons why potential plaintiffs never even make it to the filing stage. We will look at why
judges and juries are starting to understand that just having a foreskin is not reason enough to have a circumcision.

- by Steven Svoboda
- •
- Bioethics, Medical Law, Human Rights Law, Human Rights
- by Judit Sandor
- •
- Ethics, Genomics, Public Health, Medical Ethics & Law

In this article we explore the ethics of manipulating verbal information for the sake of influencing health-outcomes through placebo and nocebo responses. Recent scientific research on placebo and nocebo effects has drawn attention to the ways in which communication by health professionals may modulate the symptoms of patients across an array of highly prevalent conditions such as pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine and Parkinson’s disease. The positive and negative effects of clinicians’ communication on patient outcomes pose important ethical issues, which we describe in this article under the label of “the ethics of therapeutic communication” (TC). We begin by reviewing available evidence supporting the claim that doctor-patient communication has therapeutic effects. We then identify in truthfulness, helpfulness and pragmatism three morally relevant considerations that can guide clinicians in therapeutic communication with their patients. Finally, we examine the ethics of using TC to enhance the effectiveness of proven medical interventions and open-label placebos.

- by Marco Annoni
- •
- Ethics, Pragmatism, Applied Ethics, Trust

The offence of child destruction was introduced nearly a century ago for purposes it has failed to adequately serve: criminalising for causing viable foetal death before birth, or whilst in the birth canal. The author critiques different components of the offence, blaming the specific intent criteria for its rare use. It is argued that with rates of violence towards pregnant women highly prevalent, the essential need for more widespread application of this offence is critical. The consequence of the law turning its back in these situations is both impractical and immoral. We cannot claim to live in a civilised society when both mourning parents and the innocent unborn are unable to achieve justice. Thus, appeal is made for reform through redrafting the offence. The author suggests that the most practical solution is to amend wilful intention to encompass a reckless and/ or negligent threshold.

- by Bethane Harland
- •
- Criminal Justice, Bioethics, Medical Ethics & Law, Abortion legislation

ABSTRAK -
Pesakit mempunyai hak untuk membuat keputusan berhubung penjagaan kesihatan dan rawatan perubatan untuk dirinya. Tiada individu lain boleh membuat APA-APA keputusan berhubung dengan rawatan jika pesakit tersebut masih berkeupayaan untuk membuat keputusan. Pesakit juga boleh membuat suatu arahan untuk tidak meneruskan rawatan atau menerima APA-APA campur tangan perubatan untuk dirinya. Arahan Perubatan Awal (APA) (turut disebut sebagai Arahan Awal Perubatan) ialah dokumen yang mengandungi hasrat pesakit berhubung rawatan perubatannya, dibuat semasa pesakit masih berkeupayaan membuat keputusan. Terdapat sejenis arahan dalam skop APA yang secara khusus membenarkan pesakit untuk menolak bantuan pernafasan (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) (CPR). Arahan tersebut dikenali sebagai Larangan Resusitasi (Do Not Resuscitate) (DNR). Walau bagaimanapun, arahan tersebut bukanlah amalan yang biasa kerana berkemungkinan bercanggah dengan kewajipan doktor untuk memberikan rawatan yang terbaik untuk menyelamatkan nyawa pesakit. Persoalan penting ialah sama ada pesakit dibenarkan di sisi undang-undang untuk membuat suatu arahan DNR. Sehubungan dengan itu, artikel ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis undang-undang semasa berhubung hak pesakit dari perspektif arahan DNR. Artikel ini menggunakan kaedah kualitatif dalam meneroka isu-isu yang berhubung dengan DNR. Didapati bahawa DNR suatu cara untuk melindungi autonomi pesakit. Dari segi amalan dalam sektor kesihatan, perlu ada garis panduan dan peruntukan undang-undang yang jelas berhubung denganarahan DNR. Hal ini penting demi melindungi autonomi pesakit di samping menjaga hubungan baik antara doktor dengan pesakit. Kesihatan merupakan suatu hak asas yang perlu dinikmati oleh setiap lapisan masyarakat.
Kata kunci: Larangan Resusitasi (Do Not Resuscitate) (DNR); Arahan Perubatan Awal (APA); keizinan rawatan perubatan; autonomi pesakit; etika perubatan.
ABSTRACT-
A patient has the right to make decisions regarding his healthcare and medical care. No other person can make any decision regarding treatment if the patient is still capable of making decisions. He may also make an advance directive specifying his wishes not to continue treatment or to receive any medical interventionfor himself. Advance Medical Directive (AMD) is a document that contains a patient's desire for medical treatment, made in advance when the patient is still capable to make a decision. There is a type of order under the scope of AMD which specifically allows patients to refrain from Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). The order is known as Do Not Resuscitate (DNR). The order is not a common practice as it may conflict with the doctor's obligation to provide the best treatment to save his patients. The crucial issue is whether a patient is allowed by the law to make a DNR order. This article aims to analyse the current law on a patient's rights from the perspective of the DNR order. This article employed qualitative method in exploring issues relating to DNR. It is found that DNR is a way of protecting the patient's autonomy. In practice, there should be clear guidelines and provisions of law relating to the DNR order in the health sector. This is important in protecting patients' autonomous right while maintaining a good doctor-patient relationship.Health is a basic right that should be enjoyed by every segment of the society.

- by Zamre Zahir
- •
- Autonomy, Medical Ethics & Law, Consent, Do Not Resuscitate

This dissertation examines the World Anti-Doping Agency’s harmonised set of anti-doping rules, known as the World Anti-Doping Code. The predominant focus of this study is the consequences which an athlete faces when confronted with the... more

- by Brian Daly
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- Criminal Law, Civil Law, Ethics, Contract Law

Biyoetik temalı bu sayımızda, literatüre farklı perspektiflerden katkı sunabilecek altı adet araştırma makalesi, iki adet araştırma notu ve kitap değerlendirmeleri yer almaktadır.
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This thematic issue on bioethics presents six research articles, two research notes, and book reviews that contribute to the literature on bioethics from various perspectives.

- by Merve Özaykal and +2
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- Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Medical and Research ethics, Medical Ethics & Law

Postmortem sperm retrieval (PMSR) is a procedure to procure sperm from a man who has been dead for a short period of time, or a man who has been declared dead by neurological criteria and is being kept alive artificially. Requests for PMSR are typically made by widows with the intention of using the sperm for artificial insemination in the future, but this is not always the case. This article examines requests for postmortem sperm retrieval from parents and family members. I will first overview the legal landscape and policies regarding PMSR internationally. Next, I will provide two clinical cases of requests for postmortem sperm retrieval from parents and family members which occurred at a major medical center in California, USA. I will then analyze the salient ethical features with particular emphasis on California laws and Israel posthumous grandparenthood policies. Requests for postmortem sperm retrieval from parents, which will not necessarily result in posthumous grandparenthood, will become more frequent. This is a compelling reason for major hospitals to draft policies. I conclude with policy suggestions for this rarified request, which I believe will become routine in the future.

- by Cristina Richie
- •
- Ethics, Decision Making, International Law, Reproduction

Recently, several cases have been filed in North America and Europe alleging that fertility physicians inseminated former patients with their own sperm only to have this conduct come to light decades later when their unsuspecting adult children use direct-to-consumer genetic tests and learn that they are not biologically related to their fathers and often that they have multiple half-siblings. For instance, Donald Cline of Indianapolis, Indiana, has over sixty doctor-conceived children, with more continuing to come forward. Although these cases induce disgust, it has thus far proven difficult to hold these physicians legally accountable because their conduct falls within gaps in existing civil and criminal laws. This Article explores the legal contours of fertility fraud cases involving illicit physician inseminations, explaining why it falls through gaps in existing criminal and civil law and why it is essential to take whatever measures are necessary to hold physicians accountable. Part I discusses six physicians who have thus far faced criminal or civil charges for their conduct in North America and explores how artificial insemination has long been a stigmatized practice cloaked in secrecy. Part II discusses how fertility fraud violates various ethical and legal interests of female and male former patients and their doctor-conceived children. Part III assesses how Cline’s illicit inseminations affected parents and progeny and how Cline’s progeny learn of new genetic connections, what they think of Cline and his motivations, how they derive support from one another, their reactions to criminal proceedings against Cline, and why they regard a legislative “fertility fraud” bill as an ideal outcome. Part IV analyzes why it is difficult to hold physicians criminally and civilly liable under existing law, including excerpts from an interview with the prosecutor in the Cline case. Finally, Part V discusses successful efforts to overcome these difficulties through passing fertility fraud legislation in Indiana and Texas.

- by Jody Lynee Madeira
- •
- Medical Ethics & Law, Fraud, Reproductive medicine

Calls for a harm threshold to mediate the best interests test have gained momentum following the case of Charlie Gard. This chapter considers normative and empirical claims made by proponents of the harm threshold. While I accept that the best interests test may need of reform, I deny that the harm threshold is the answer. The chapter is divided into two parts. Part one investigates the empirical basis of the claim about parental decision-making in medical practice. It uses an analysis of interviews that reveal some thresholds of decision-making that are volunteered by parents and healthcare professionals in discussions about non-treatment decisions in paediatric intensive care. To some extent I recognise that this data can be used to support the empirical claims made on behalf of the harm threshold. In the second part of the chapter, I take issue with the normative conclusion that this clinical picture means we ought to support the introduction of a harm threshold into medical law. I argue that a harm threshold is largely unmotivated because the current system of decision-making patently does consider the rights of parents as well as children. Proponents of the harm threshold may nevertheless be motivated simply by the desire to make medical law consistent with public law. I argue that there are differences in the level of certainty in clinical and social outcomes, that imply we need significantly more caution when making social welfare decisions. I also note that unintended consequences from the adoption of the harm threshold that may impinge on the rights of parents and increase conflict in the healthcare arena. Finally I argue that the very characterisation of arguments for parental rights as being about liberty is incorrect.

Halliday, Samantha (2019). Court-authorised obstetric intervention: insight and capacity, a tale of loss. In Childbirth, Vulnerability and Law: Exploring Issues of Violence and Control. Editors: Pickles, Camilla & Herring Jonathan... more

- by Samantha Halliday
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- Psychiatry, Medical Law, Reproductive health, Medical Ethics & Law
- by Nathan Wheeler
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- Medical Law, Negligence (Medical Law), Medical Negligence, Tort Law
- by Malcolm K Smith
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- Medical Law, Health Law, Medical Ethics & Law, Medical Law and Ethics