By Suzanne Ost Two recent, controversial cases involving doctors and the criminal law have caught my attention because they could challenge our perceptions about when it is appropriate to criminalise doctors’ behaviour. We use the criminal law to hold people to account when they commit the most serious wrongs. The State acts in the name […]
Category: In the Courts
Gross negligence manslaughter and doctors
By Jo Samanta and Ash Samanta The recent prosecution of a doctor for gross negligence manslaughter has led to grave concerns particularly among medical professionals. The circumstances concerned the tragic death of a six-year-old child, who had been admitted to hospital. On the facts of the case Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba was charged with gross negligence […]
WORKSHOP | Cryonic Preservation: Ethical and Legal Questions
Wellcome Collection, London, 6th October 2018 “Cryonic preservation” (or “cryopreservation”) names a technique whereby a person currently suffering from a terminal illness has their body frozen for an indefinitely long period of time, in the hope that, once medical technology has advanced sufficiently, it will be possible for them to be revived and cured. In November […]
The Williams Review: Unlikely to reassure doctors concerned about gross negligence manslaughter law
Guest Author: Nathan Hodson, Foundation Doctor, University Hospitals of Leicester. A rapid policy review of medical gross negligence manslaughter was announced by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Hunt, in February 2018. Last week, barely four months later, Professor Sir Norman Williams delivered the report. Its remit was limited to investigating the […]
Why the Parents of Both Charlie Gard and More Recently Alfie Evans Should Have Been Allowed to Decide About Their Sons’ Best Interests
Guest post by Raanan Gillon Re: Why the parents of Charlie Gard should have been allowed to decide on his best interests. This blog briefly summarises and adds to my paper due to appear in the JME’s forthcoming symposium on the case of Charlie Gard[1]. Because of the widespread unpopularity of my views amongst doctors, […]
The Children Missing from Nelson’s Column
By Iain Brassington There’s a cliché that says that hard cases make bad law. Truth be told, there’s a whole list of things that make, or make for, bad law. Highly visible public protests make for bad law. Lack of measured thought makes for bad law. Journalistic pressure makes for bad law. And anything – anything […]
“An intermittent safeguard for health”
Guest post by Matteo Winkler, École des hautes études commerciales de Paris I thought I’d drop you a few lines to explain how I view the Italian intervention on the case of Alfie Evans. On 24 April, the Italian government, acting upon a proposal presented by the Minister of Interior Marco Minniti, resolved to grant Alfie […]
Alfie Evans: Please, just stop.
By Iain Brassington Last summer, as the Charlie Gard saga was unfolding, was a slightly strange time to be a bioethicist. Perhaps fortuitously, I was out of the country as matters began to gather pace; I was able to post a couple of blog posts (like this and this), but could generally keep my head down […]
Guest Post: Information Disclosure Post-Montgomery: Are English Courts Likely to use Causation as a “Control mechanism” to Limit Liability, like in Australia?
Authors: Malcolm K Smith and Tracey Carver, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Paper: Montgomery, informed consent and causation of harm: lessons from Australia or a uniquely English approach to patient autonomy? The UK Supreme Court decision of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] 1 AC 1430 establishes that a […]
Using Best Interests Meetings for People in a Prolonged Disorder of Consciousness to Improve Clinical and Ethical Management
Guest Post: Derick T Wade Article: Using best interests meetings for people in a prolonged disorder of consciousness to improve clinical and ethical management One year ago I wrote the first of two articles on improving the management of people with a prolonged disorder of consciousness. That article was the result of about 18 months […]