Medical Ethics & Law

Teaching staff: Ms Pat Walsh
Module code: 7FFLG911
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:  Semester 1 (autumn) 

Module description

An important module if you are interested in the moral issues which arise in the context of medical practice and medical law. An introduction to the major theories provides you with a theoretical framework for the analysis of a range of complex problems in medical ethics. You develop a critical awareness of the principles and doctrines operating and learn to apply them in a systematic and creative way to some of the most difficult issues facing the medical profession today.

This module is a pre-requisite for all other modules on the programme.

Teaching staff: Ms Pat Walsh
Module code: 7FFLG904
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:  Semester 1 (autumn) 

Module description

Covers a broad range of the diverse and difficult ethical issues that arise when a life is coming to an end for whatever reason. Topics include euthanasia and assisted suicide, the persistent vegetative state, the sale of organs for transplantation, dying with dignity, the care of the demented, clinical research on terminally ill patients and ageism in resource allocation.

The module draws on and reinforces the theoretical background provided by the module Moral Theory & Medical Ethics by applying the different moral viewpoints analysed there to these critical issues of life and death.

Teaching staff: Professor Rosamund Scott
Module code: 7FFLG909
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20

Module description

This module addresses the law relating to assisted reproduction and the embryo, primarily in England & Wales. You explore the law on assisted reproduction and surrogacy and consider legitimate uses of the embryo beyond the reproductive sphere, studying embryo research / stem cell research / therapeutic cloning. These themes are united by the fact that the latter activities may stem from the embryos created but not used in medically assisted reprodution. You also consider some key underlying ethical issues.

Teaching staff: Professor Rosamund Scott
Module code: 7FFLG910
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20

Module description

This module covers aspects of the law relating to reproduction in England and Wales and in selected other jurisdictions, and some key ethical issues underlying the law. You consider the scope of the legal interest in having a child, or in avoiding reproduction or in deciding about the kind of child one may have. You explore the law relating to abortion, prenatal diagnosis, wrongful birth, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, wrongful life, wrongful conception and the sterilisation of someone who is mentally disabled.

Teaching staff: Professor Penney Lewis
Module code: 7FFLG907
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20

Module description

The question whether assisted dying should be legalised is often treated as one which transcends diverse legal systems. As a result, the important context in which individual jurisdictions make decisions about assisted dying and the significance of the legal methods chosen to carry out those decisions is often lost. You study the legal regulation of assisted dying in a wide range of jurisdictions, including those which permit some form(s) of assisted dying and those in which legalisation attempts has been unsuccessful.

Teaching staff: Professor Penney Lewis
Module code: 7FFLG908
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20

Module description

You study the law relating to end of life decision-making, in England and Wales and in a wide range of other jurisdictions, for both competent and incompetent patients of all ages including contemporaneous and advance decisions, proxy decision-making, palliative care, quality of life, decisions to withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment and the definition of death. This module may only be taken if you take Medical Law 1: Consent, Refusal & Request or if you have previously studied Medical Law.

Teaching staff: Professor Penney Lewis
Module code: 7FFLG912
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20

Module description

The patient's right to consent to or refuse medical treatment is protected by human rights law and common law principles. This right protects the patient's self-determination, bodily integrity and dignity. You study the law governing consent to treatment for competent and incompetent patients of all ages; the constituent elements of the tort of battery; refusal of treatment; and requests for treatment including the allocation of scarce medical resources and the role of the public law (judicial review).

This module is compulsory for all MA MEL students who have not already studied Medical Law in the UK; if taken it must be passed.

Pre-requisite: Law at the End of Life 2: End of Life Decision-Making

Teaching staff: Laura Giachardi
Module code: 7FFLG913
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20

Module description

You study the nature of liability in tort; the constituent elements of the tort of negligence; the general principles of tort law, such as vicarious liability and damages; the social context in which tort law operates; and possible directions of reform for compensation for medical misadventure including no-fault compensation schemes. The increasing role of the criminal law in cases of medical error is also examined, for example prosecutions for gross negligence manslaughter, corporate manslaughter and health and safety offences.

Teaching staff: Professor Genevra Richardson
Module code: 7FFLA546
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20

Module description

You examine the legal structure within which care and treatment are provided and at the implications of the European Convention of Human Rights and the background to recent law reform. The principles underpinning the law relating to people with mental disorder who have just come into contact with the criminal justice system are covered. You concentrate on the position of offender patients and examine the relationship between mental health law, the substantive criminal law and the principles of sentencing.

Teaching staff: Professor Genevra Richardson
Module code: 7FFLA547
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20

Module description

In the UK, as in many other jurisdictions, the law makes special provision for people with mental disorder. The principles underpinning the law relating to people with mental disorder are introduced and you consider the rationale and possible justification for this special legal provision. Concentration is on the law relating to non-offender patients and examines the relationship between mental health law and the law relating to those who lack capacity.

Teaching staff: 

Pat Walsh

Module code: 7FFLG905
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 

The below optional modules are worth 20 credits each. You may choose to study all four of the topics covered or any two of them, depending on your other module choices. The modules provide you with a knowledge and critical understanding of key topics in medical ethics.

Psychriatic Ethics
You will gain a critical understanding of the central issues in psychiatric ethics by addressing four themes: 1) The Boundaries of Mental Disorder 2) Competence to Consent and Involuntary Treatment 3) Psychopathology and Responsibility 4) Treatment in the Context of Mental Disorder.

Justice & the Allocation of Health Care Resources
In a situation of permanent scarcity of health care resources but with a National Health Service, many difficult moral problems arise about how the resources we have should be used. This module addresses these issues by examining what social justice requires and whether considerations of justice can give us a practical resolution of the problem of scarce resources. It looks at some of the decisions made by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and at the cost-benefit analysis behind its decision-making. You will also consider some of the problems associated with other countries' approach to these issues.

Reproductive Ethics
This module covers the central issues in reproductive ethics by addressing a number of key topics such as abortion, and disability and in so doing it familiarises you with the key ethical arguments in this context. The main theme concerns the scope of the moral interest in having or not having a child or children.

Reproduction & Genetics
This module covers the central ethical issues in genetic selection practices by addressing key topics in relation to selection by means of pre-implantation diagnosis (PGD), prenatal diagnosis (PND) and selective abortion and by identifying and clarifying the key ethical arguments in this context.

Teaching staff: 

Pat Walsh

Module code: 7FFLG906
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 

The below optional modules are worth 20 credits each. You may choose to study all four of the topics covered or any two of them, depending on your other module choices. The modules provide you with a knowledge and critical understanding of key topics in medical ethics.

Psychriatic Ethics
You will gain a critical understanding of the central issues in psychiatric ethics by addressing four themes: 1) The Boundaries of Mental Disorder 2) Competence to Consent and Involuntary Treatment 3) Psychopathology and Responsibility 4) Treatment in the Context of Mental Disorder.

Justice & the Allocation of Health Care Resources
In a situation of permanent scarcity of health care resources but with a National Health Service, many difficult moral problems arise about how the resources we have should be used. This module addresses these issues by examining what social justice requires and whether considerations of justice can give us a practical resolution of the problem of scarce resources. It looks at some of the decisions made by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and at the cost-benefit analysis behind its decision-making. You will also consider some of the problems associated with other countries' approach to these issues.

Reproductive Ethics
This module covers the central issues in reproductive ethics by addressing a number of key topics such as abortion, and disability and in so doing it familiarises you with the key ethical arguments in this context. The main theme concerns the scope of the moral interest in having or not having a child or children.

Reproduction & Genetics
This module covers the central ethical issues in genetic selection practices by addressing key topics in relation to selection by means of pre-implantation diagnosis (PGD), prenatal diagnosis (PND) and selective abortion and by identifying and clarifying the key ethical arguments in this context.