Medical Ethics and the Law - Core Curriculum

Wilkinson, D., Savulescu, J., Hope, T. and Hendrick, J., (2008), 'Medical Ethics and Law - The Core Curriculum', 2nd Edition, (Churchill Livingstone) [link to 3rd Edition]

book cover of medical ethics and law, second edition, by Tony Hope, Julian Savulescu and Judith Hendrick

This is a short textbook of ethics and law aimed primarily at medical students. The book is in two sections. The first considers general aspects of ethics (in the context of medicine); the second section covers the topics identified in the ‘consensus agreement’. The content of medical law is not intended to be comprehensive and relates very much to the ethical issues.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Ethical and legal background: Reasoning about ethics. Ethics and legal background. Three core concepts in medical ethics - best interests, autonomy and rights. An introduction to law. Doctors, patients and professions.

Part 2. Specific topics. Consent. Confidentiality. Genetics. Reproductive medicine. Children. Mental disorder. End of life. Resource allocation. Research. Disease, disability and human enhancement.