Law Commons^™

Guidelines For Physician-Assisted Suicide, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

This paper proposes a set of guidelines for physician-assisted suicide (PAS). This set of guidelines integrates pertinent guidelines that were adopted in Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide is legal, in the Netherlands and Belgium where euthanasia is legal, in Switzerland where assisted suicide is practiced, and in the Northern Territory of Australia, where physician-assisted suicide was legal for a short period of time.

Guidelines For Physician-Assisted Suicide, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

This paper proposes a set of guidelines for physician-assisted suicide (PAS). This set of guidelines integrates pertinent guidelines that were adopted in Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide is legal, in the Netherlands and Belgium where euthanasia is legal, in Switzerland where assisted suicide is practiced, and in the Northern Territory of Australia, where physician-assisted suicide was legal for a short period of time.

Addressing Prescription Opioid Abuse Concerns In Context: Synchronizing Policy Solutions To Multiple Public Health Problems, Kelly Dineen

Kelly Dineen

No abstract provided.

Surrogacy As The Sale Of Children: Applying Lessons Learned From Adoption To The Regulation Of The Surrogacy Industry's Global Marketing Of Children, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This article will argue that most surrogacy arrangements as currently practiced do constitute the “sale of children” under international law, and hence should not be legally legitimated. Hence, maintaining the core legal norm against the sale of children requires rejecting currently constituted claims of a right to procreate through surrogacy. Given the underlying purpose of all human rights law in maintaining the inherent human dignity of all human beings, a claimed legal right built upon the sale of human beings must be rejected.

Trafficking For Organ Removal, Anne T. Gallagher Ao

Anne T Gallagher

No abstract provided.

Ebola And Bioterrorism, Joshua P. Monroe

Joshua P Monroe

This paper will be a comparison of the United States government’s reaction to the recent outbreak of Ebola and will compare this response with the potential response by the United States government toward an act of biological or chemical warfare. The paper will analyze these responses from a cultural, political, legal, and policy standpoint

Could You Repeat That Please? Forty-Five Years Of Testing Pesticides On People, Barbara R. Leiterman Esq.

Barbara R. Leiterman Esq.

Little has been published in the literature about pesticide experiments conducted on human subjects. Yet there were at least twenty-two tests between 1967 and 2011 in which people were intentionally exposed to specific doses of pesticides. Almost all of these experiments violated scientific ethics and human rights. This article aims to describe those tests and their shortcomings, and explore the laws and regulations that incentivize such human experimentation. Ironically, as the public desire for pesticide safety increases, so does the industry’s motivation to test pesticides on people. Bringing these pesticide experiments to light, expanding the public discourse on the subject …

Evolving Legal Responses To Dependence On Families In New Zealand And Singapore Healthcare, Tracey E. Chan, Nicola Peart, Jacqueline Chin

Tracey E Chan

Healthcare decision-making has traditionally focused on individual autonomy, but there is now a change occurring in which the involvement of families is gaining prominence. This appears to stem from an increasing emphasis on relational aspects of autonomy which recognises the individual’s connectedness to their family, and also state reliance upon families to share the burdens and costs of caring for elderly and disabled dependents. Such a reorientation calls for similar legal emphasis on patient autonomy as understood in relational terms, and one that offers more adequate conceptions of independence, confidentiality, and decision-making authority in the light of this change. This …

Democracia E Biotecnologia: Argumentos Para A Construção De Um Discurso Pautado Na Agência Humana Como Vetor Transformador Da Realidade, Carolina Altoé Velasco

Carolina Altoé Velasco

O artigo objetiva demonstrar que os processos biotecnológico e democrático têm em comum a interferência da agência humana como vetor transformador de suas realidades. Utiliza-se como marco teórico-metodológico as obras de Guillermo O’Donnell e Adela Cortina. Guillermo O’Donnell reconhece o impacto motivado pela tecnologia e globalização na sociedade e a agência humana como fomentadora do processo democrático. Já Adela Cortina considera a pessoa (contemplada por sujeito autônomo e solidário) a medida da democracia e esta como forma de vida. A eleição de Cortina para travar um diálogo com o pensamento de O’Donnell se dá em razão da abordagem feita a …

Medical Oxymoron Or Necessary Prevention Of Repeat Sex Offenses: An Examination Of The Appropriateness Of Existing Chemical Castration Statutes, Robert Watters

Robert Watters

The current chemical castration statutes in six states are full of logical constitutional, medical and ethical questions and concerns. The basis for the criticism can be traced to how the schemes were developed compared to the those used in Europe. The castration statutes enacted after long trial and error periods are, therefore, easily discernible from those signed into law quickly as a reaction to some outside event.

Locke And Berkeley At Twenty Paces, Frederick J. White Iii

Frederick J White III

Does the world exist? Or more properly questioned, does anything of the world exist beyond our ideas of it? Locke and Berkeley have become seconds at twenty paces on this dichotomy, and we are asked to consider the outcome of the duel.

A Shot In Arm: Can Chemical Castration Statutes Cure Sex Offenders Legally And Ethically?, Robert Watters

Robert Watters

At least seven states have chemical castration statutes to combat recidivist sex offenders. This article is an examination of the appropriateness and effectiveness of those statutes as against the successful European models.

The Paradox In Madness: Vulnerability Confronts The Law, Marie Failinger

Marie A. Failinger

Using personal narrative, this article engages the durable power of attorney and the abuses that can occur when the maker of a power is mentally ill. It proposes some basic safeguards necessary to protect the dignity and autonomy of the maker.

Putting Theory Into Practice: Thoughts From The Trenches On Developing A Doctrinally Integrated Semester-In-Practice Program In Health Law And Policy, Michele L. Mekel

Michele L Mekel

With the employment market for attorneys currently in a subpar state, legal employers have the attention of both law students and law schools, and these employers are demanding practice-ready practitioners. In response, law schools are turning increasingly to experiential learning opportunities of various types. For law schools with concentrations, certificate programs, or centers of excellence, experiential learning presents synergies upon which to capitalize in offering students specialized, hands-on training that matches their interests and makes them more attractive employment candidates upon graduation.

Physician-Assisted Suicide An Ethical Way Out Or An Easy Way Out, Joshua M. Benson

Joshua M Benson

Is it ethical, and/or should it be legal, for a terminally ill patient to substitute their will for that of God or nature by allowing them to decide when he or she is ready to die? The death of Dr. Jacob “Jack” Kevorkian last summer brought physician-assisted suicide back into the public limelight. Since 1988, the general public, the courts, legislatures, and physicians have been debating whether it is moral, ethical, or legal to allow for physician-assisted suicide. Recently, the state of Washington’s legislature adopted Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act and Montana’s judicial system found physician-assisted suicide to be legal. …

Indian Courts And Social Change: A Case Study Of The ‘Doctrine Of Informed Consent’ In Medical Law And Ethics, Dharmendra Chatur

Dharmendra Chatur

The doctrine of informed consent in medical law and ethics has a strong grounding in the principle of bodily autonomy and self-determination of human beings. This emphasis on the freedom of every individual to decide what is best for his/her body and health has led to several controversies in the area of medical law and ethics in India and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom. Being a legal and ethical doctrine, ‘informed consent’ has been discarded, accepted, modified and emulated by various judgments of courts. This paper will examine the ingenuity of courts in bringing about social change by upholding …

Fear Of Facebook: Private Ordering Of Social Media Risks Incurred By Healthcare Providers, Nicolas P. Terry

Nicolas P Terry

The last two years have seen important quantitative and qualitative shifts in social media use patterns in the healthcare environment. Reacting to present and future risks there has been a rapid deployment of private ordering: social media policies and other contractual constructs emanating from physicians, professional organizations, employers and educators. These private, often contractual attempts to regulate online interactions or social media conduct are not all benign, themselves creating ethical or legal risk. This article, a follow-up to Physicians And Patients Who ‘Friend’ Or ‘Tweet’: Constructing A Legal Framework For Social Networking In A Highly Regulated Domain, 43 IND. L. …

Resolving Medical Futility Disputes, Thaddeus M. Pope, Donna Casey

Thaddeus Mason Pope

No abstract provided.

Funding Stem Cell Research: The Convergence Of Science, Religion & Politics In The Formation Of Public Health Policy, Edward A. Fallone

Edward A Fallone

The controversy over the funding of stem cell research by the federal government is used as a case study for examining how policy choices are made in the field of public bioethics. This article examines the manner in which the decision to fund stem cell research has been influenced by the convergence of evolving scientific knowledge, conflicting religious values, and the role of elected officials in a representative democracy. The article begins by reviewing the current state of scientific knowledge concerning adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and the process of direct cell re-programming. Because each …

When Is Medical Care “Futile”? The Institutional Competence Of The Medical Profession Regarding The Provision Of Life-Sustaining Medical Care, Meir Katz

Meir Katz

“Medical futility,” the doctrine by which hospital ethics boards have assumed the right to authorize medical providers to unilaterally withdraw or decline to provide aggressive life sustaining medical care, has swelled in popularity in recent years and has affected the lives of countless terminal patients. The case law governing medical futility is inconsistent and appears to provide medical providers and patients alike little guidance in this extremely sensitive area of health law. Lost in the confusion created by the case and statutory law is due consideration of the normative case behind “medical futility.” “Futility,” by definition, is preceded by an …

Review Of "Health Law And Bioethics: Cases In Context", Michele L. Mekel

Michele L Mekel

A review of the book "Health Law and Bioethics: Cases in Context"

An Open Letter To The Citizens Of Northwest Louisiana, Frederick J. White Iii

Frederick J White III

We, the undersigned physicians, want to publicly address our community regarding the health system debate in Congress. This is a historic time, and decisions made in these next days will impact you as citizens and as patients for generations. We recognize that the health system needs change. But the path that the Congress has taken is unwise and unnecessary. And although the American Medical Association has endorsed both the House and Senate bills, (1) we want to be clear—the AMA does not speak for us on these issues.

Towards A New Moral Paradigm In Health Care Delivery: Accounting For Individuals, Meir Katz

Meir Katz

For years, commentators have debated how to most appropriately allocate scarce medical resources over large populations. In this paper, I abstract the major rationing schema into three general approaches: rationing by price, quantity, and prioritization. Each has both normative appeal and considerable weakness. After exploring them, I present what some commentators have termed the “moral paradigm” as an alternative to broader philosophies designed to encapsulate the universe of options available to allocators (often termed the market, professional, and political paradigms). While not itself an abstraction of any specific viable rationing scheme, it provides a strong basis for the development of …

Unilateral Refusal Of Treatment And Patient Abandonment: Betancourt V. Trinitas Hospital, Brief Of Amicus Curiae, Law Professor Thaddeus Mason Pope, Thaddeus M. Pope

Thaddeus Mason Pope

Betancourt v. Tinitas Hospital is now pending before the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court. Trinitas Hospital is appealing a March 2009 trial court injunction, ordering its physicians to continue providing life-sustaining medical treatment (particularly dialysis) that these providers judged to be medically inappropriate and outside the standard of care.

In early 2009, patient Ruben Betancourt was in a permanent vegetative state with multi-organ failure and slim prospects for recovery. Still, the patient’s daughter, Jacqueline, would not accede to recommendations to stop dialysis and switch to palliative care. When it became apparent that providers might unilaterally withdraw Mr. …

International Harmonization Of Regulation Of Nanomedicine, Gary E. Marchant, Douglas J. Sylvester, Kenneth W. Abbott, Tara Lynn Danforth

Gary E. Marchant

Nanomedicine holds enormous promise for the improved prevention, detection and treatment of disease. Yet, at the same time, countervailing concerns about the potential safety risks of nanotechnologies generally, and nanomedical products specifically, threaten to derail or at least delay the introduction and commercial viability of many nanomedicine applications. All around the globe, national governments are struggling with balancing these competing benefits and risks of nanotechnology in the medical and other sectors. It is becoming increasingly clear that reasonable, effective and predictable regulatory structures will be critical to the successful implementation of nanotechnology. The question examined in this paper is whether …

The Right To Die With Dignity: An Argument In Ethics And Law, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

We face a dilemma. Suppose there is a person who suffers great pain and wants to die. Those who believe life is intrinsically valuable object to taking life and to taking any action on the person’s desire because the end of life is something granted only to nature, and is not a decision that is incumbent on human beings. However, this objection ignores the autonomy of the agent’s concerns, because she might say: “I would like to die. I would rather die in these circumstances because I don’t feel that I am adding anything just by surviving.” Can life be …

The Regulation Of Xenotransplantation In The Uk After Ukxira: Legal And Ethical Issues’, Laura Williamson, Marie Fox, Sheila Mclean

Dr Laura Williamson

Xenotransplantation - the transfer of living tissue between species - has long been heralded as a potential solution to the severe organ shortage crisis experienced by the United Kingdom and other `developed' nations. However, the significant risks which accompany this biotechnology led the United Kingdom to adopt a cautious approach to its regulation, with the establishment of a non-departmental public body - UKXIRA - to oversee the development of this technology on a national basis. In December 2006 UKXIRA was quietly disbanded and replaced with revised guidance, which entrusts the regulation of xenotransplantation largely to research ethics committees. In this …

Not Compatible With Life, Arthur Lang

Arthur Lang

Novelties Compassion Compassion, like the concept of good, is not means to something else. It simply exists. It exists between man and man, parent and child, and between God and man. The compassion between parent and child correlates to the compassion between God and man. We pray that God has compassion for us as a parent has compassion for a child. This correlation is the source of the conception of the other man as the fellow man, someone worthy of compassion. Compassion is the recognition of moral being. It is the substantiation of another, the recognition of his or her …