Law and Medical Ethics 1: Fundamentals (P02582)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : LAW-P-LW0042

The primary function of this module is to gain a solid grounding in the 'fundamentals' of medical jurisprudence (eg: the central and pervasive concepts and principles relating to consent, negligence, confidentiality and mental competence, among others), and discuss the relationship between the law, ethics, and the practice of medicine. The law must be founded on sound moral and ethical principles, but the two are not always necessarily the same; moreover, medicine is, in many ways, running in advance of legal precedent, and constantly throwing out new and more difficult ethical challenges.
Several controversial areas will be covered, particular importance being laid on current concepts of consent to and refusal of medical treatment, patient confidentiality, human rights, medical negligence, genetics, public health and mental health.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Law, (School of Law, Schedule F)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

The aims of this module are to equip you to:
• investigate the basic legal and ethical conflicts that arise in the practice of modern medicine
• define such concepts as personhood, paternalism and autonomy
• evaluate the importance and limitations of consent to medical procedures
• communicate a sense of the structure of, and concepts involved in negligence, from both legal and medical practice perspectives
• discuss the difficulties inherent in the duty of confidentiality, especially in the context of modern genetics and genetic diagnosis
• form an understanding of the concepts of 'mental competence' and incompetence, and the important effects this determination has on the legal and ethical requirements for patient treatment.

The objectives of this module are that, by the end, students should be able to:
• articulate and comment critically upon the fundamental legal and ethical principles and concepts that inform and influence the practice of modern medicine
• reflect upon the role that concepts such as personhood, paternalism and autonomy have on health care professional duties, as well as on patient rights
• critically evaluate the central position of consent/refusal in medical care
• effectively assess the current systems of compensation for medical negligence and propose reforms, where necessary
• constructively criticise the current safeguards, limitations and protections relating to confidentiality, genetics and mental health, and the conflicts that existing regulations and requirements create.

Assessment Information

This module is assessed according to the broad format adopted across the whole of the LLM Programme, namely, by a combination of (1) essay and (2) activity-based learning.
The essay part of the assessment for this module consists of one essay of 5000 words. This essay counts for 80% of the final assessment on the module.
The remaining 20% of the final mark will be given for the answer in respect of a 'take home' exercise. The point of the exercise is to release an issues-based problem in teaching week 9 of the semester, which will draw on various elements of the module as a whole. For example, a scenario will be described and the student will have to advise the persons involved. Students will be required to submit a written answer to the problem within 72 hours of release. The answer should be no more than 1,000 words long.