Medical law
Medical law is the branch of law which concerns the prerogatives and responsibilities of medical professionals and the rights of the patient.[1] It should not be confused with medical jurisprudence, which is a branch of medicine, rather than a branch of law.
The main branches of medical law are the law on confidentiality, negligence and torts in relation to medical treatment (most notably medical malpractice), and criminal law and contract law in the field of medical practice and treatment. Ethics and medical practice is a growing field.[2]
History
The first medical law recorded was the Code of Hammurabi, which said; "If a physician makes a large incision with the operating knife, and kill him, ... his hands shall be cut off."[3]
See also
- Abortion law
- Assault (tort) and Battery (tort), a form of trespass to the person
- Bioethics
- Competence (law)
- Compulsory sterilization
- Conjoined twins
- Consent (criminal law)
- The Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine
- Euthanasia
- Freedom of information
- Health law, the body of healthcare legislation and government regulation
- Inviolability
- Involuntary commitment
- Involuntary treatment
- Medical ethics
- Medical malpractice
- Medical record
- Privacy law
- Quality of life (healthcare)
- Reproductive rights
- Reproductive technology
- World Association for Medical Law
References
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2009) |
- ^ "Topic: Medical Law". City University Law School - Lawbore. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ "Medical blunders cost NHS billions". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
- ^ http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4c.asp
Notable cases
- Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc.
- Airedale NHS Trust v Bland [1993] 1 All ER 821 HL http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1992/5.html
- Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11 https://www.supremecourt.uk/decided-cases/docs/UKSC_2013_0136_Judgment.pdf
Further reading
- Annas, G. J. (2012). "Doctors, Patients, and Lawyers — Two Centuries of Health Law". New England Journal of Medicine. 367 (5): 445–450. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1108646. PMID 22853015.