Medical Law is the branch of law, which
concerns the prerogatives and responsibilities
of medical professionals and the rights of the
patient. 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
in the field of medical practice and treatment.
Because Ethics and Medical Practice is a
growing field, students in this course will
explore issues in Medical Ethics and Law that
are ripped from the headlines and fall under
the broad umbrella of “reproduction.”
Topics include:
- Forced sterilization;
- High-tech baby-making;
- Embryos and divorce;
- Age limits on access to assisted
reproductive technology;
- Abortion;
- Civil liberties during pregnancy;
- Conflict in the neonatal intensive care unit;
- Defining parenthood donation; and
- Selling or buying organs for transplantation.
The course will also evaluate the ways that
the individual choice norm has been extended
to or withheld from individuals who have
lost competence or who (because of mental
impairment) had never been or (because they
were infants or fetuses) had not yet become
competent to decide for themselves.
The course will further explore how the
institutions of law and medicine have sought
to approach and, when possible, resolve the
dilemmas. Course materials will include:
articles from newspapers, magazines,
medical journals, law reviews, excerpts from
books, casebooks, and court cases.
Language of Instruction: English (legal terms,
however, are also given in Arabic and French).