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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
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 …
Vaccine Liability In The Supreme Court: Forging A Social Compact, John D. Kraemer, Lawrence O. Gostin
Vaccine Liability In The Supreme Court: Forging A Social Compact, John D. Kraemer, Lawrence O. Gostin
John D Kraemer
In its decision in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC, the Supreme Court ruled that state products liability suits that allege design defects in vaccines are preempted by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. This decision, the third in a trilogy of Supreme Court preemption cases that deal with products liability suits for health commodities, preserves the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and the delicate balance between ensuring the vaccine supply and compensating injuries that it enables. Failing to preempt state product liability suits would have exposed vaccine manufacturers to substantial litigation costs defending unfounded claims about autism.