730-386 Health and Medical Law

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Subject Description:

This subject considers the legal relationship between health professionals and their patients. The topics covered include the health professionals duty to inform patients about proposed medical procedures and to take reasonable care in consultations, diagnosis and treatment, rights of access to medical records and the applicability of the law of breach of confidence to medical procedures. Legal and administrative methods for resolving disputes between health professionals and patients are examined. Analysis is undertaken of the health professionals obligations in dealing with particular patients such as children, the intellectually disabled, the mentally ill, the dying, gay and lesbian patients, and Koori and NESB patients. Statutory provisions concerning particular treatment, such as tissue transplants, IVF and abortion are also covered. Ethical issues that confront health professionals, administrators and law makers in day-to-day medical practice are also considered. These include issues of resource allocations and enrolling people in clinical trials. Issues arising from common law (e.g. abortion) and statute (e.g. human tissue transplants, in-vitro-fertilisation, embryo experimentation, euthanasia) are considered.

Assessment:

Prescribed Texts:

Materials will be issued by the Law School.

• Skene, L., You, Your Doctor and the Law, OUP 1990.
• H Luntz and AD Hambly, Torts, Cases and Commentary, Butterworths, 1992.
• Peter MacFarlane, Health Law, Federation Press 1993.