This book explores the reality of patient control and choice in health care, and analyses how decisions should be made on behalf of those deemed incapable of making them for themselves. The contributors are distinguished experts from the disciplines of medicine, ethics, theology and law. They look at the complex problem of autonomy and consent in health care and clinical research today and its impact on the vulnerable members of society. The essays move from the exploration of lingering paternalism in health care to the acute dilemmas of treatment of and research on new born babies. In...

The right of adults with sound mind to consent to treatment or risk their own health for the benefit of the community in a clinical trial is unequivocally recognised by the law. But what about those vulnerable by virtue of their age, nature or position in society? Experts from the fields of medicine, philosophy, theology and law, explore the ethical and legal principles which seek to reconcile the individual's right to autonomy with the need to protect vulnerable groups. Discussions refer both to specific groups (premature babies, children, people with mental handicaps) and specific issues...

Embryo research, cloning, assisted conception, neonatal care, savior siblings, organ transplants, drug trials modern developments have transformed the field of medicine almost beyond recognition in recent decades and the law struggles to keep up. At the same time legal claims against doctors and the NHS has grown and doctors feel under siege.
In this highly acclaimed and very accessible book, Margaret Brazier and Emma Cave provide an incisive survey of the legal situation in areas as diverse as fertility treatment, surrogacy, patient consent, euthanasia and the definition of death,...