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Medical Jurisprudence Commons

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Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Medical Jurisprudence

Choosing Medical Malpractice, Nadia N. Sawicki Jul 2019

Choosing Medical Malpractice, Nadia N. Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

Modern principles of patient autonomy and health care consumerism are at odds with medical malpractice law's traditional skepticism towards the defenses of contractual waiver and assumption of risk. Many American courts follow a patient-protective view, exemplified by the reasoning in the seminal Tunkl case, rejecting any attempts by physicians to relieve themselves of liability on the grounds of a patient's agreement to assume the risk of malpractice. However, where patients pursue unconventional treatments that satisfy their personal preferences but that arguably fall outside the standard of care, courts have good reason to be more receptive to such defenses. This Article …


Modernizing Informed Consent: Expanding The Boundaries Of Materiality, Nadia N. Sawicki Jun 2019

Modernizing Informed Consent: Expanding The Boundaries Of Materiality, Nadia N. Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

Informed consent law’s emphasis on the disclosure of purely medical information – such as diagnosis, prognosis, and the risks and benefits of various treatment alternatives – does not accurately reflect modern understandings of how patients make medical decisions. Existing common law disclosure duties fail to capture a variety of non-medical factors relevant to patients, including information about the physician’s personal characteristics; the cost of treatment; the social implications of various health care interventions; and the legal consequences associated with diagnosis and treatment. Although there is a wealth of literature analyzing the merits of such disclosures in a few narrow contexts, …


Informed Consent As Compelled Professional Speech: Fictions, Facts, And Open Questions, Nadia N. Sawicki Jun 2019

Informed Consent As Compelled Professional Speech: Fictions, Facts, And Open Questions, Nadia N. Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

No abstract provided.


A New Life For Wrongful Living, Nadia N. Sawicki Jun 2014

A New Life For Wrongful Living, Nadia N. Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

No abstract provided.


The Hollow Promise Of Freedom Of Conscience, Nadia N. Sawicki Mar 2013

The Hollow Promise Of Freedom Of Conscience, Nadia N. Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

Two hundred years ago, Thomas Jefferson asserted that no law "ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority." Since then, freedom of conscience has continued to be heralded as a fundamental principle of American society. Indeed, many current policy debates-most notably in the medical and military contexts-are predicated on the theory that claims of conscience are worthy of legal respect. This Article, which offers a comprehensive account of the contemporary treatment of conscience, challenges established assumptions and seeks to reframe the debate about the normative value of …


Patient Protection And Decision Aid Quality: Regulatory And Tort Law Approaches, Nadia N. Sawicki Mar 2013

Patient Protection And Decision Aid Quality: Regulatory And Tort Law Approaches, Nadia N. Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

No abstract provided.


Character, Competence, And The Principles Of Medical Discipline, Nadia N. Sawicki May 2012

Character, Competence, And The Principles Of Medical Discipline, Nadia N. Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

This Article presents a first-of-its-kind analysis of the disciplinary functions of state medical licensing boards-the frequently overlooked administrative agencies designed to serve as the "gatekeepers" of the medical profession. It concludes that medical boards may have lost sight of their primary goal of patient protection and suggests that a renewed focus on professional licensing boards may go a long way towards addressing some of the quality of care problems plaguing the American medical system. This Article identifies three fundamental legal principles underlying medical boards' authority to discipline physicians: the goal of public protection, substantive due process limitations based on fitness …


A Theory Of Discipline For Professional Misconduct, Nadia Sawicki Feb 2011

A Theory Of Discipline For Professional Misconduct, Nadia Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

State medical boards derive their licensure and disciplinary authority from the police powers reserved to the states under the 10th Amendment. Though it is clear that public health, safety, and welfare are well-served by the educational and examination requirements uniformly imposed upon medical professionals, many medical practice acts also authorize discipline for professional misconduct that does not directly implicate clinical competence or patient safety - for example, being convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude, failing to comply with a child support order, providing expert opinion to a court without reasonable investigation, ordering unnecessary laboratory tests, engaging …


Compliance With Advance Directives: Wrongful Living And Tort Law Incentives, Holly Lynch, Michele Mathes, Nadia Sawicki Feb 2011

Compliance With Advance Directives: Wrongful Living And Tort Law Incentives, Holly Lynch, Michele Mathes, Nadia Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

Modern ethical and legal norms generally require that deference be accorded to patients' decisions regarding treatment, including decisions to refuse life-sustaining care, even when patients no longer have the capacity to communicate those decisions to their physicians. Advance directives were developed as a means by which a patient's autonomy regarding medical care might survive such incapacity. Unfortunately, preserving patient autonomy at the end of life has been no simple task. First, it has been difficult to persuade patients to prepare for incapacity by making their wishes known. Second, even when they have done so, there is a distinct possibility that …