{"title":"Donor conception, direct-to-consumer genetic testing, choices, and procedural justice: an argument for reform of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.","authors":"Caroline A B Redhead, Lucy Frith","doi":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae028","DOIUrl":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this article, using theories of procedural justice and 'slow violence', we consider potential reform of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. Our theoretical discussion is underpinned by findings from the ConnecteDNA project, exploring how people affected by donor conception experience direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT). The negative impacts of DTCGT, especially shock discoveries about the circumstances of someone's conception in adulthood, are linked to donor anonymity, and how its continued protection is experienced as a barrier to the rights and agency of donor-conceived people. We focus on two key issues relating to the donor information access process set out in section 31ZA of the 1990 Act. The first is that it excludes certain cohorts of donor-conceived people, creating inequalities of access to donor information. The second is the impact of the use of DTCGT to search for that information. We discuss what a procedurally just process of law reform would look like, concluding that, whatever (prospective) approach to donor anonymity is taken, the donor information access process should be the same for all donor-conceived people. We thus argue that, even were the status quo to be maintained, reform of the donor information access process with retrospective effect would be required.</p>","PeriodicalId":49146,"journal":{"name":"Medical Law Review","volume":" ","pages":"505-529"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11586530/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141789565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Anticipatory declarations in obstetric care: a relational and spatial examination of patient empowerment, institutional impacts and temporal challenges.","authors":"Aimee V Hulme","doi":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae032","DOIUrl":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Seeking an anticipatory declaration from the Court of Protection (CoP) to manage a risk of future loss of capacity in pregnant people during labour and delivery appears to be occurring more frequently. This article examines a growing case sample of recent CoP judgments in which anticipatory declarations have been sought and adopts a combined relational and spatial approach to question whether these types of anticipatory declarations empower patient autonomous choice, and to illuminate the complex web of relational, spatial, and temporal factors that hold influence over the way in which mental capacity law operates. Viewing such processes from both a patient and institutional perspective offers useful insights into the law's normative workings, boundaries, and constraints, and ultimately points to conclusions on the (in)effectiveness of anticipatory declarations as a legal mechanism for dealing with the risk of a patient losing capacity in the future. Moreover, however, taking a broader, spatial view signals the challenges posed by these cases to mental capacity legislation itself. The justifiability of the binary construct of capacity/incapacity has been challenged by some writers in this field, and this article offers further reflection on the integrity of this binary through its discussion of anticipatory orders for pregnant people.</p>","PeriodicalId":49146,"journal":{"name":"Medical Law Review","volume":" ","pages":"530-548"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11586531/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142037504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Regulating algorithmic care in the European Union: evolving doctor-patient models through the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI-Act) and the liability directives.","authors":"Barry Solaiman,Abeer Malik","doi":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwae033","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues that the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare, particularly under the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act (AI-Act), poses significant implications for the doctor-patient relationship. While historically paternalistic, Western medicine now emphasises patient autonomy within a consumeristic paradigm, aided by technological advancements. However, hospitals worldwide are adopting AI more rapidly than before, potentially reshaping patient care dynamics. Three potential pathways emerge: enhanced patient autonomy, increased doctor control via AI, or disempowerment of both parties as decision-making shifts to private entities. This article contends that without addressing flaws in the AI-Act's risk-based approach, private entities could be empowered at the expense of patient autonomy. While proposed directives like the AI Liability Directive (AILD) and the revised Directive on Liability for Defective Products (revised PLD) aim to mitigate risks, they may not address the limitations of the AI-Act. Caution must be exercised in the future interpretation of the emerging regulatory architecture to protect patient autonomy and to preserve the central role of healthcare professionals in the care of their patients.","PeriodicalId":49146,"journal":{"name":"Medical Law Review","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142219969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The short-lived verdict in Le Page v Center for Reproductive Medicine: why 'personhood' matters in the regulation of assisted reproductive technologies.","authors":"Edward R Grant","doi":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae020","DOIUrl":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae020","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49146,"journal":{"name":"Medical Law Review","volume":" ","pages":"399-409"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141421544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Michael Holmes v Poeton Holdings Ltd [2023] EWCA Civ 1377: a necessary clarification for a non 'de minimis' discussion in causation.","authors":"Patricia de Moraes Paisani Matthey Claudet","doi":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae024","DOIUrl":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae024","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49146,"journal":{"name":"Medical Law Review","volume":" ","pages":"410-420"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141477784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sara A Attinger, Ian Kerridge, Cameron Stewart, Isabel Karpin, Siun Gallagher, Robert J Norman, Wendy Lipworth
{"title":"Money matters: a critique of 'informed financial consent'.","authors":"Sara A Attinger, Ian Kerridge, Cameron Stewart, Isabel Karpin, Siun Gallagher, Robert J Norman, Wendy Lipworth","doi":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae015","DOIUrl":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In recent years, concerns about the financial burdens of health care and growing recognition of the relevance of cost to decision making and patient experience have increasingly focused attention on financial 'transparency' and disclosure of costs to patients. In some jurisdictions, there have been calls not only for timely disclosure of costs information, but also for 'informed financial consent'. However, simply putting the 'financial' into 'informed consent' and invoking an informed consent standard for cost information encounters several ethical, legal, and practical difficulties. This article will examine the viability and desirability of 'informed financial consent', and whether it is possible to derive ideas from traditional informed consent that may improve decision making and the patient experience. We argue that, while there are important legal, ethical, and practical challenges to consider, some of the principles of informed consent to treatment can usefully guide financial communication. We also argue that, while medical practitioners (and their delegates) have an important role to play in bridging the gap between disclosure and enabling informed (financial) decision making, this must be part of a multi-faceted approach to financial communication that acknowledges the influence of non-clinical providers and other structural forces on discharging such obligations.</p>","PeriodicalId":49146,"journal":{"name":"Medical Law Review","volume":" ","pages":"356-372"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11347940/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140899874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mediating disputes under the Mental Capacity Act 2005: relationships, participation, and best interests.","authors":"Jaime Lindsey, Chris Danbury","doi":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae014","DOIUrl":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article analyses the use of mediation to resolve mental capacity law disputes, including those that arise in the healthcare context. It draws on original empirical data, including interviews with lawyers and mediators, and analysis of a mediation scheme, to argue that mediation has the potential to be an effective method of resolution in mental capacity law. It highlights the relationship benefits of mediation while acknowledging the challenges of securing P's participation and best interests. The final section of the article considers how mediation can operate in one of the most challenging healthcare environments, the Intensive Care Unit. The article emphasizes that the challenges we see in mediation are not unique and exist across the spectrum of Court of Protection practice. Therefore, the article concludes that mediation may be used effectively but the jurisdiction would also benefit from a clearer regulatory framework in which it can operate.</p>","PeriodicalId":49146,"journal":{"name":"Medical Law Review","volume":" ","pages":"336-355"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11347943/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141421593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"France's constitutional right to abortion: symbolism over substance.","authors":"Zoe L Tongue","doi":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae019","DOIUrl":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae019","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49146,"journal":{"name":"Medical Law Review","volume":" ","pages":"392-398"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141181398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A health-conformant reading of the GDPR's right not to be subject to automated decision-making.","authors":"Hannah B van Kolfschooten","doi":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae029","DOIUrl":"10.1093/medlaw/fwae029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in healthcare is expanding, patients in the European Union (EU) are increasingly subjected to automated medical decision-making. This development poses challenges to the protection of patients' rights. A specific patients' right not to be subject to automated medical decision-making is not considered part of the traditional portfolio of patients' rights. The EU AI Act also does not contain such a right. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does, however, provide for the right 'not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing' in Article 22. At the same time, this provision has been severely critiqued in legal scholarship because of its lack of practical effectiveness. However, in December 2023, the Court of Justice of the EU first provided an interpretation of this right in C-634/21 (SCHUFA)-although in the context of credit scoring. Against this background, this article provides a critical analysis of the application of Article 22 GDPR to the medical context. The objective is to evaluate whether Article 22 GDPR may provide patients with the right to refuse automated medical decision-making. It proposes a health-conformant reading to strengthen patients' rights in the EU.</p>","PeriodicalId":49146,"journal":{"name":"Medical Law Review","volume":" ","pages":"373-391"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11347939/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141972176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}