Introductory video from the author

Hi, I’m Jonathan Herring, author of Medical Law and Ethics.

I should warn you that studying medical law will mean that going to the doctor will never be the same. Doctors at one time had a god-like status. They were seen as pillars of the community. But at the moment, many doctors feel hot under the media spotlight. There was Harold Shipman, who killed hundreds of his patients before it was discovered what he was doing. And there was a huge outcry that met the doctors who had removed organs from children without their parents’ consent. These cases are interesting. They show the powers that doctors have. Doctors have quite literally the power over life and death. This is excellent in the hands of a good doctor, but terrifying in the hands of an appalling one.

There’s barely a day goes by when there’s not something in the news which is of interest to medical lawyers or ethicists. Consider just three examples. At the moment there is much debate going on over the creation of hybrids – things that are part animal and part human. Scientists say these are essential for medical research and to find cures for some terrible diseases. But others say that this shows a complete lack of regard for the sanctity of human life.

So whose views do we listen to? How should the law respond to issues when there is such a diversity of opinion amongst the general public?

Or consider the issue of rationing. It is now widely accepted that the NHS cannot give the treatment that it would like to every single patient. So how do we decide which patient should receive treatment and which should not? Imagine you were a doctor and there were three patients all on the point of death requiring highly expensive life-saving treatment, and your budget only allowed to save one of them. Who would you save? The five-year-old with so much of her life ahead of her? The single mother raising four children who would all have to be taken into care if she were to die? Or the brilliant, middle-aged academic historian, who could still write many wonderful books? How can we decide which of these patients should be treated? What principles should the law use?

Or thirdly what about this heart-rending case? A father had two daughters, both of whom needed a kidney transplant. Without that, they would both die. Unfortunately, there was a desperate shortage of kidneys available. The father immediately said that both his kidneys should be used. But removing his kidneys would kill him. Should the doctors have done what he wanted and removed his kidneys to save his children, thereby killing him? Or would that have been a breach of the fundamental principle that doctors should never kill a patient?

These are difficult issues and there are no straightforward answers. But these questions are looked at in the book. There, you will find as clear an analysis as I can provide of the key legal principles governing the eleven chapters in the book. But also a discussion of the ethical issues involved. I try and provide you with a variety of different perspectives. There are the standard philosophical points of view. But there are also viewpoints from feminists and theologians as well that you will find.

I hope these will show you that there are a variety of ways of looking at these issues. Some of the viewpoints expressed you may not be able to understand at all. Some you’ll wholeheartedly agree with. I hope, however, that having read the book, you will see that many of these issues are not as straightforward as they may appear. Take, for example, the abortion issue. In the media, this is commonly shown as a dispute between those who are pro-choice or pro-life. In fact, there are a number of in-between positions which might be considered as well. This is true for many of the topics which are considered in the book.

I hope you’ll also visit the online resource centre. This has a number of fun things to do. There are links to websites that you might want to follow. There are also questions and answers for you to consider, and also updates. And links also to the full text of the cases which are discussed, so you can look at these in full for yourself. All in all, I hope that you find medical law a fascinating subject to study. I hope the book will make you think. Don’t just read it and stop; read it and think about the issues for yourself. You may well have come to the book with strong opinions, but are you sure you have thought through all of the issues? The book may not change your mind, but I hope it will show you how many differing and complex views can be taken on these difficult topics.