Medical Jurisprudence Commons^™

Judicial Opinions Involving Health Insurance Coverage: Trompe L'Oeil Or Window On The World?, William M. Sage

Faculty Scholarship

This essay offers a few thoughts about using judicial decisions as the dataset for research into health insurance coverage. Part I offers a general overview of insurance coverage law. Part II considers why students of health insurance coverage gravitate toward studying published opinions. Part III then discusses what is wrong with the approach, and suggests alternatives. Finally, Part IV turns to what may be right with the approach, concluding that judicial opinions in coverage litigation may reveal the functionality (or dysfunctionality) of the coverage process in managed care. Although the basic critique which the essay presents applies to areas other …

Physician Assisted Suicide And The Supreme Court: Putting The Constitutional Claim To Rest, Wendy K. Mariner

Faculty Scholarship

Like the debate about many controversial questions of ethics and medical care in America, public debate about physician assisted suicide became focused on questions of constitutional law. On June 26, 1997, the United States Supreme Court unanimously rejected any constitutional right of terminally ill patients to physician assisted suicide. An analysis of the Court's reasoning reveals that its decisions resolved only a narrow constitutional question that affects relatively few people--mentally competent, terminally ill patients who wish to hasten their imminent deaths by having a physician prescribe medication that they intend to use to commit suicide. Although suicide is not a …

Lessons From Away:An Interdisciplinary Collectionof Studies Exploring Whatcanada May Learn From Othercountries' Experiences Withhealth Care Reforms, Colleen M. Flood

Dalhousie Law Journal

The Canadian health care system is considered a shining example of what it is to be Canadian: to aspire to social justice goals and to achieve those goals at a reasonable cost.' Canadians take great pride in that, by any measure, their health care system is superior to the piece-meal, expensive, and unjust U.S. health care system.

Georgia's Professional Malpractice Affidavit Requirement, Robert D. Brussack

Scholarly Works

Section 9-11-9.1 of the Georgia Code might be the state's most notorious procedural statute. Enacted in 1987 to protect professionals against the harm done by groundless malpractice litigation, the statute provides that a professional malpractice claim ordinarily must be accompanied by an affidavit executed by an expert. In the affidavit, the expert must substantiate the claim by attesting that some act or omission alleged in the claim was a negligent act or omission--a departure from a professional standard of conduct. During the past decade, Georgia's appellate courts have returned again and again to the problem of what section 9-11-9.1 means, …

Using The Dna Profile As The Unique Patient Identifier In The Community Health Information Network: Legal Implications, 15 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 227 (1997), Lisa L. Dahm

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

One of the greatest obstacles to electronic medical record keeping is the absence of a unique patient identifier. With the sharing of patient's information, an increased risk of error exists. Among these risks are the transmission of the wrong patient's records and security of confidential patient information. Implementation of a uniform patient identifier will eliminate the obstacle to cooperation and information-sharing of health data. This article proposes the application of a unique protocol, which utilizes DNA fingerprints as a patient's personal identifier. Since each individual's DNA profile is distinctly different, the fingerprint would act as the patient's personal bar code, …

Legal Attack On Cost Containment Mechanisms: The Expansion Of Liability For Physicians And Managed Care Orgainizations, 31 J. Marshall L. Rev. 207 (1997), Allison Faber Walsh

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Medical Confidentiality In Israeli Law, 30 J. Marshall L. Rev. 747 (1997), Steven Silverstein

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

This Is Who Will Die When Doctors Are Allowed To Kill Their Patients, 31 J. Marshall L. Rev. 95 (1997), Michael Mcgonnigal

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Assisted Suicide: The State Versus The People, John P. Safranek, Stephen J. Safranek

Seattle University Law Review

This Article will examine the Ninth Circuit's appeal to personal dignity and autonomy to justify a constitutional right of assisted suicide in the face of pluralist opposition, that is, a law duly enacted by a majority of elected representatives in a state or by the people directly. Scrutiny of the Ninth Circuit's decision will reveal the formidable jurisprudential obstacles to basing a right to assisted suicide on dignity and autonomy, obstacles the Supreme Court refused to overcome in revoking Compassion in Dying. This examination is divided into three parts: the first analyzes attempts to justify rights on the principle …

The Supreme Court And Terminal Sedation: Rejecting Assisted Suicide, Embracing Euthanasia, David Orentlicher

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Legalization Of Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Very Modest Revolution, David Orentlicher

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Prenatal Genetic Screening: The Enigma Of Selective Abortion, David Stoller

Journal of Law and Health

This paper examines the issues of pre-natal genetic testing and its ethical and legal concerns. Part II details the scientific techniques involved in pre-natal genetic testing. Part III discusses the Human Genome Project and its influence on the choices available to prospective parents. Part IV analyzes the moral and ethical issues raised by pre-natal genetic screening. Part V presents the legal issues raised by pre-natal genetic screening. Finally, Part VI concludes and offers a prospective on the future of these technologies.

Paying For Suffering: The Problem Of Human Experimentation, Larry I. Palmer

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Making Sausage: The Ninth Circuit's Opinion, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

As I write, the Supreme Court has just agreed to hear Compassion in Dying v. Washington and Quill v. Vacco, the two cases in which United States circuit courts of appeals held that a state may not constitutionally prohibit physicians from helping a terminally ill person who wishes to commit suicide to do so. These cases have already received lavish comment and criticism, and no doubt the Supreme Court's opinion will garner even more. Reasonably enough, most of this analysis addresses the merits of physician-assisted suicide as social policy. I, here, want to talk about how setting bioethical policy …

Statutory And Ethical Barriers In The Patenting Of Medical And Surgical Procedures, 29 J. Marshall L. Rev. 891 (1996), William B. Lafferty

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sleeping With The Enemy: Combatting The Sexual Spread Of Hiv-Aids Through A Heightened Legal Duty, 29 J. Marshall L. Rev. 957 (1996), Eric L. Schulman

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Death With Dignity: Aids And A Call For Legislation Securing The Right To Assisted Suicide, 29 J. Marshall L. Rev. 677 (1996), Jeremy A. Sitcoff

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Screening Of Newborns For Hiv: An Idea Whose Time Has Not Yet Come, Nina Loewenstein

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article argues against mandatory HIV screening for newborns, asserting that the benefits of early detection do not justify the infringement on mothers' legal rights and privacy. Proponents overemphasize medical benefits and underestimate the impact on maternal rights and care roles.

While Ignorance May Not Be Bliss, It Is A Mother's Right: Constitutional Implications Of Testing Newborn Babies For Hiv, Julie D. Levinson

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article examines the constitutional implications of mandatory HIV testing for newborns, arguing that such policies infringe upon women's rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. It critiques two proposed bills for being overly intrusive and not narrowly tailored, advocating instead for voluntary testing and counseling to balance public health with individual rights.

Toward A Pragmatic Model Of Judicial Decisionmaking: Why Tort Law Provides A Better Framework Than Constitutional Law For Deciding The Issue Of Medical Futility, Brent D. Lloyd

Seattle University Law Review

Recognizing that courts will eventually have to confront the issue of medical futility, this Comment argues that there is no principled basis for omitting these difficult questions from a legal analysis of the issue and that courts should therefore decide the issue in a manner that honestly confronts them. Specifically, the argument advanced here is that courts confronted with cases of medical futility should decide the issue under principles of tort law, rather than under principles of constitutional law. The crux of this argument is that tort principles provide an open-ended analytical framework conducive to considering troublesome questions like those …

Beyond Autonomy: Coercion And Morality In Clinical Relationships, Maxwell Gregg Bloche

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article considers the problem of line-drawing between autonomy-preserving and autonomy-negating influence in clinical relationships. The author’s purpose is not to propose particular boundaries, either with respect to reproductive decisions by HIV-infected women or for other clinical choices. Rather, he attempts to shed some light on what drives our disputes about whether one or another influence method is compatible with autonomous choice.

The author argues that such disagreements reflect underlying conflicts between normative commitments, and that resolving these conflicts is essential to settling controversies over whether particular influences unduly interfere with autonomous choice. Alternative understandings of the prerequisites for autonomous …

Facilitating Choice: Judging The Physician's Role In Abortion And Suicide, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

When I was invited to give this talk I thought, "I'll just give my standard slide show on death in America." I thought I would just talk about the right to die, something I can do in my sleep, and everybody would be happy. And you probably would, since it's a pretty good speech. I am going to give it at a Pennsylvania Judges Conference in a couple of weeks, and they will like it. But it is not very challenging, either for me or for you. So, what I want to explore with you today is how judges have …

An Introduction To “Mandatory Hiv Screening Of Newborns: A Child’S Welfare In Conflict With Its Mother’S Constitutional Rights?” - False Dichotomies Make Bad Law., Paris R. Baldacci

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article examines the contentious issue of mandatory HIV screening of newborns, highlighting the false dichotomy often presented in the debate between the welfare of the child and the constitutional rights of the mother. It argues that this dichotomy oversimplifies the complex legal, medical, and ethical considerations involved, leading to ineffective public policy. The article emphasizes the need for a more holistic approach that balances medical interventions with respect for individual rights and addresses the broader societal and structural factors affecting HIV-infected mothers and their children.

Medicine And Human Rights: Reflections On The Fiftieth Anniversary Of The Doctors’ Trial, George J. Annas, Michael A. Grodin

Faculty Scholarship

1996 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the commencement of the trial of Nazi physicians at Nuremberg, a trial that has been variously designated as the "Doctors' Trial" and the "Medical Case." In addition to documenting atrocities committed by physicians and scientists during WWII, the most significant contribution of the trial has come to be known as the "Nuremberg Code," a judicial codification of 10 prerequisites for the moral and legal use of human beings in experiments. Anniversaries provide us with an opportunity to reflect upon the past, but they also ena ble us to renew our efforts to plan for …

Aids Phobia, Public Health Warnings, And Lawsuits: Deterring Harm Or Rewarding Ignorance?, Wendy K. Mariner

Faculty Scholarship

Courts in more than a dozen states have decided cases in which a person has claimed money damages for his or her fear of getting acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Although most courts have rejected such claims in the absence of actual exposure to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), their reasoning has varied slightly from state to state. This article argues that negligence law should not permit people who are HIV negative to recover damages for an unfounded fear of AIDS. Public health statements intended to educate the public about preventing HIV transmission may have encouraged some fear-of-AIDS lawsuits against health …

Solving The Kidney Shortage Crisis Through The Use Of Non-Heart-Beating Cadaveric Donors: Legal Endorsement Of Perfusion As A Standard Procedure, Marla K. Clark

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A.D.A.M. -- The Computer Generated Cadaver: A New Development In Medical Malpractice And Personal Injury Litigation, 13 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 313 (1995), André M. Thapedi

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

A.D.A.M. is a CD-ROM based, interactive, anatomical program that permits the user to view and observe the anatomical aspect of the human body used in medical schools throughout the United States. A.D.A.M. and its female counterpart E.V.E., use high-resolution graphics and color animation to show views of the human body from every conceivable angle simulating various traumas to the body. Utilizing a mouse, the A.D.A.M. user can "point and click" to reveal the various parts of the human body. Potentially, attorneys can use A.D.A.M. to demonstrate injuries and surgeries to the trier of fact in a trial proceeding. The trial …

Medical Process Patents And Patient Privacy Rights, 14 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 131 (1995), Jeffrey A. Taylor

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The author analyzes the patentability of medical processes and the effect patentability has on the right to privacy essential in a physician-patient relationship. Part II of the comment provides a the legal background on the issue of the patentability of medical processes. Part III examines the impact of enforcing medical process patents and the effect disclosure of medical records has upon the privacy of the physician-patient relationship when owners of patents try to expose patent infringement. Part IV advocates that Congress should amend the Patent Act to preserve patient privacy rights when infringement is investigated. According to the author, such …

Restatement (Second) Of Torts Section 324a: An Innovative Theory Of Recovery For Patients Injured Through Use Or Misuse Of Health Care Information Services, 14 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 73 (1995), Lisa L. Dahm

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The author in this comment discusses how developments in information technology and widespread utilization of technology and software in the patient care context raise the issue of clinical liability for health care information systems vendors. The comment discusses a theory of recovery of tort damages for the negligence of health care information systems vendors under section 324A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. Section 324A provides in essence that "one who undertakes ... for consideration, to render services to another which he should recognize as necessary for the protection of a third person ... is subject to liability to the …

Mandatory Non-Anonymous Testing Of Newborns For Hiv: Should It Ever Be Allowed, 27 J. Marshall L. Rev. 373 (1994), Jean R. Sternlight

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.