Medical Jurisprudence Commons^™

Science Fact Or Science Fiction? The Implications Of Court-Ordered Genetic Testing Under Rule 35, 34 U.S.F. L. Rev. 295 (2000), Anthony Niedwiecki

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Blood, Sweat, And Tears: Toward A New Paradigm For Protecting Donor Privacy, 7 Va. J. Soc. Pol'y & L. 141 (2000), Kevin Hopkins

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Property, Privacy, And The Human Body, Radhika Rao

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Balancing Public Health Against Individual Liberty: The Ethics Of Smoking Regulations, Thaddeus Mason Pope

Faculty Scholarship

Ten years ago, philosopher Robert E. Goodin published "No Smoking: The Ethical Issues." Goodin argued that the liberty of smokers can be justifiably limited for two reasons: to prevent harm to third persons and to prevent harm to smokers themselves under circumstances which make their decision to smoke substantially non-autonomous. In this article Thaddeus Pope reexamines the harm principle and the soft paternalism principle in light of more recent legal developments, gives them additional content, and carefully demarcates the justificatory scope of each. Pope also defines and defends a third liberty-limiting principle, hard paternalism, arguing that the liberty of smokers …

Elders, Surgeons, Regulators, Jurors: Are Medical Experimentation's Mistakes Too Easily Buried?, James T. O'Reilly

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

On The Meaning And Impact Of The Physician-Assisted Suicide Cases, Yale Kamisar

Book Chapters

I read every newspaper article I could find on the meaning and impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's June 1997 decisions in Washington v Glucksberg and Vacco v Quill. I came away with the impression that some proponents of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) were unable or unwilling publicly to recognize the magnitude of the setback they suffered when the Court handed down its rulings in the PAS cases.

The Implementation Of Oregon’S Death With Dignity Act: Reassuring, But More Data Are Needed, David Orentlicher

Scholarly Works

Undoubtedly, empirical data from Oregon will play a key role for academics, legislators, judges, and the public as debate over the legalization of physician-assisted suicide continues. A central issue in the debate is whether a right to assisted suicide can be limited to only the truly compelling cases, or whether it will in practice be provided to patients who choose it out of depression, coercion, or misunderstanding. Empirical research can provide critical insights into this question.

Medical Malpractice: Treating The Causes Instead Of The Symptoms, David Orentlicher

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Calling Dr. Love: The Physician-Patient Sexual Relationship As Grounds For Medical Malpractice - Society Pays While The Doctor And Patient Play, Scott M. Puglise

Journal of Law and Health

This note examines "consensual" sexual relationships between non-mental health physicians and patients. More specifically, it examines whether such relationships ever amount to medical malpractice. Generally, a non-mental health physician would be liable under the rubric of medical malpractice only if the sexual relationship was commenced under the guise of "medical treatment." Recent cases, however, have expanded liability in certain circumstances when the physician-patient relationship has involved "counseling matters." "Counseling matters" describes talking to patients about their feelings, or discussing personal problems not necessarily related to their proposed treatment. Medical treatment supplemented by "counseling" purportedly requires greater scrutiny due to the …

More Hippocrates, Less Hypocrisy: Early Offers As A Means Of Implementing The Institute Of Medicine's Recommendations On Malpractice Law, Jeffrey O'Connell, Patrick B. Bryan

Journal of Law and Health

To remove the fear of personal liability from individual health care workers and eliminate the incentive to hide errors rather than report them, the IOM acknowledges that tort reform of some sort is also needed. Since the IOM calls for shifting attention away from the faults of individual care providers to the defects of the system itself, the current tort system's "blame culture" is itself blamed by the IOM for providing an impediment to improving the safety of patients by deterring physicians from reporting their own errors in the first place. However, the IOM's To Err is Human does not …

Ex Parte Civil Commitment, Family Care-Givers, And Schizophrenia: A Therapeutic Jurisprudence Analysis, Éva Szeli

Seattle University Law Review

First, this Article will discuss schizophrenia and its impact on these individuals and their families. Family variables in the course of the disorder will be highlighted. Then, this Article will review the legal power afforded such families by ex parte provisions in civil commitment statutes using the involuntary examination portion of the Florida mental health code as a model. Finally, this Article will assess this system of civil commitment available to care-giving families in therapeutic jurisprudential terms, with recommendations for maximizing the therapeutic consequences and minimizing the antitherapeutic consequences of ex parte procedures.

Egregious Inaction: Five Years After 'Of Life And Death', Jocelyn Downie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In November 1999, the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology was authorized to examine and report upon developments since the release of Of Life and Death, the final report of the Special Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. A subcommittee to update Of Life and Death was therefore established. On February 14, 2000, I participated in the first panel of witnesses before this subcommittee. In light of the subcommittee's mandate, I set myself the following two tasks: first, to update the legal status sections of Of Life and Death by reporting on any changes to the …

The Ethics Of Advocacy For The Mentally Ill: Philosophic And Ethnographic Considerations, Bruce A. Arrigo, Christopher R. Williams

Seattle University Law Review

In this Article, we critically address several philosophical underpinnings of ethical decision-making that impact persons with psychiatric disorders. We focus our attention, however, upon an admittedly limited target area. Thus, we canvass a select number of significant issues that pose unique problems for humanity. The purpose of these excursions is that of reflection. In brief, we will speculatively examine: (1) the relationship between human rights and the law; (2) the relationship between mental illness and the law (i.e. the rights of the mentally ill); (3) the ethics of involuntary confinement (i.e., taking away and giving back rights to the mentally …

Therapeutic Appellate Decision-Making In The Context Of Disabled Litigants, Ian Freckelton

Seattle University Law Review

This Article explores ways in which appellate decision-making can be enhanced so as to minimize the counter-therapeutic consequences of the curial process for litigants and witnesses with psychiatric illnesses and intellectual disabilities.

Advocacy Of The Establishment Of Mental Health Specialty Courts In The Provision Of Therapeutic Justice For Mentally Ill Offenders, Leroy L. Kondo

Seattle University Law Review

This Article explores the establishment of mental health courts as a partial solution to the perplexing societal problem that relegates mentally ill offenders to a "revolving door" existence in and out of prisons and jails.This inescapable situation results from a paucity ofeffective humanitarian policies, laws, and procedures for treating such medically disordered defendants. The establishment of mental health specialty courts is investigated as a potential means of addressing the complex legal issues and psycho-sociological problems faced by the judicial system in dealing with mentally ill offenders.

Adr: An Eclectic Array Of Processes, Rather Than One Eclectic Process, Lela P. Love, Kimberlee K. Kovach

Articles

When mediators try to resolve a controversy by providing their analysis of the legal – or other – merits, they are providing the service that judges, arbitrators and neutral experts provide. In essence, such endeavors use the neutral’s judgment, award or opinion to determine or jump-start a resolution. This article urges that this add-on activity to mediation should be called by its proper name. The essay highlights the advantages of calling "mediation plus evaluation" a mixed process and discusses the advantages of having an eclectic and diverse mix of processes from which parties and counsel can choose to promote party …

Symposium: Regulatory And Liability Considerations, Michael S. Baram, Ellen Flannery, Patricia Davis, Gary Marchant

Faculty Scholarship

You can tell from remarks by prior speakers that regulatory approvals and liability prevention are of critical importance to progress in biomaterials. Gene therapy trials and the tragic outcomes of some of those trials have raised the specter of government suspension of clinical studies, termination of funding, and potential liability for personal injury under malpractice or products liability doctrines. Regulatory requirements and the terms of research grants and contracts have to be very carefully addressed by organizations testing, developing, making, selling and using biomaterials, biotechnology, and medical devices. However, many regulatory requirements are incomplete, ambiguous and confusing because the agencies …

The Second Revolution In Informed Consent: Comparing Physicians To Each Other, Aaron Twerski, N. B. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Second Revolution In Informed Consent: Comparing Physicians To Each Other, Neil B. Cohen, Aaron D. Twerski

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Benefits Of Voluntary Inpatient Psychiatric Hospitalization: Myth Or Reality?, Donald H. Stone

All Faculty Scholarship

Throughout the United States, mentally ill persons are confined against their will in psychiatric hospitals as a result of being accused of dangerous behavior. Some are committed involuntarily by a judge after an administrative hearing during which they are afforded legal representation, a right to be present, and important due process protections, including the right to cross-examine witnesses and present one's own witnesses. However, a significant number of individuals, initially confined in psychiatric institutions for allegedly posing a danger to life or safety, never see an impartial judge, lawyer, or even a family member. These mentally ill individuals are not …

Government As God: An Update On Federal Intervention In The Treatment Of Critically Ill Newborns, Dionne L. Koller

All Faculty Scholarship

Whether a severely impaired or critically ill infant should receive lifesaving, and sometimes extraordinary, medical treatment, or be allowed to die, is hotly debated. The issue initially garnered public attention in 1982, when an infant who was born with Down's Syndrome, “Baby Doe,” was allowed to die from a correctable birth defect. Following this, the federal government took a lead role in determining the fate of critically ill newborns. In the meantime, doctors, philosophers, and others have debated whether federal interference in this area is appropriate.

This essay will bring the reader up to date on the “Baby Doe” issue …

A Ray Of Light For Judges Blinded By Science: Triers Of Science And Intellectual Due Process, Erica Beecher-Monas

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Erisa Preemption Of Medical Malpractice Claims In Managed Care: Asserting A New Statutory Interpretation, Karla S. Bartholonew

Vanderbilt Law Review

Congress enacted the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA) to protect employee interests and ensure a uniform body of law for pension and benefit plans. The statute's expansive preemption clause and preclusion of extra-contractual damages have since been used to immunize Managed Care Organizations ("MCOs") from liability for patients injuries resulting from medical malpractice. Because plaintiffs with preempted claims may receive only the remedies provided for under ERISA-the right or benefit due under the plan-many injured patients have been left with no meaningful remedy.

"[N]ot a model of legislative drafting,"" the statute's broad preemption clause provides that state …

Erisa Preemption Of Medical Malpractice Claims In Managed Care: Asserting A New Statutory Interpretation, Karla S. Bartholomew

Vanderbilt Law Review

If Congress wants the American citizens to have access to adequate health care, then Congress must accept its responsibility to define the scope of ERISA preemption and to enact legislation that will ensure every patient has access to that care.' Congress enacted the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA) to protect employee interests and ensure a uniform body of law for pension and benefit plans. The statute's expansive preemption clause and preclusion of extra-contractual damages have since been used to immunize Managed Care Organizations ("MCOs") from liability for patients injuries resulting from medical malpractice. Because plaintiffs with preempted …

Erisa Preemption Of Medical Malpractice Claims: Can Managed Care Organizations Avoid Vicarious Liability?, J. Bradley Buckhalter

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment begins by briefly discussing the theory of respondeat superior and the vicarious liability of MCOs for the negligence of affiliated physicians.' Next, the section presents an overview of ERISA, focusing on ERISA's preemption of laws that impact employee benefit plans, particularly medical malpractice claims brought against MCOs seeking to hold them vicariously liable for an affiliated physician's negligence. Section III applies current ERISA preemption doctrine to a situation such as Peterson's, in which a plaintiff attempts to hold an MCO vicariously liable for an affiliated physician's negligence. Section IV concludes that, given the current state of ERISA preemption …

Practicing Medicine Without A License: Legislative Attempts To Mandate Chemical Castration For Repeat Sex Offenders, 32 J. Marshall L. Rev. 381 (1999), Lisa Keesling

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mother Still Knows Best: Cancer-Related Gene Mutations, Familial Privacy, And A Physician's Duty To Warn, Alissa

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The vows of the Hippocratic Oath which include a vow to abstain from sharing a patient's personal information remains an important tenet of medical care today. Physician-patient confidentiality even abstains sharing information with patients' families. However, when medical information affects the health of the patient's relatives, many medical professionals assert that they have a duty to share the information, with or without the patient's consent, particularly in the context of children of patients with genetic diseases and disorders, where forewarning may significantly decrease the risks or increase prevention of the effects of the disease or disorder. Currently, while physicians respect …

The Maladaptation Of Miranda To Advance Directives: A Critique Of The Implementation Of The Patient Self-Determination Act, Thaddeus Mason Pope

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, Thaddeus Pope argues that the Patient Self Determination Act (PSDA) is a failure on its own terms. The Article first identifiesthe central purpose of the Act as the protection of patient autonomy. The Article then reviews much of the empirical research on the implementation of the Act. This research suggests that the medical preferences expressed in advance directives completed pursuant to the PSDA are usually not based on real understanding because patients are merely "Mirandized" of their right to direct their post-autonomous medical care. Although some scholars contend that this is the most that can be expected …

Bajakajian: New Hope For Escaping Excessive Fines Under The Civil False Claims Act, Melissa Ballengee Alexander

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Genetic Test Results And The Duty To Disclose: Can Medical Researchers Control Liability?, Richard L. Furman, Jr.

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment examines research on the human genome and explores the existence of a duty to disclose genetic test results in clinical and research settings. Part II begins with a hypothetical describing how such a duty to disclose can arise. Part III (A-C) describes advances in the sequencing of the human genome, the development of reliable tests for genetic disorders, and issues regarding access and control of genetic test samples and results. Part III (D) looks at the tort law basis for a general duty of physicians to disclose medical information, the specific duty of clinical physicians to disclose the …