Why I wrote … Medical Ethics and Medical Law – A Symbiotic Relationship

Patient autonomy is one of the central values in medical ethics. It is generally understood as recognition of patients' rights as free individuals answerable only to themselves. This emphasis on the individual leaves open the question of the position of the patients' ‘loved ones’, that is of families and significant others. The authors examine this question in three areas of law and medical ethics. Organ donation offers an example of preference given by medical ethics to family views, notwithstanding an expressed wish of the deceased to donate, and the legal position protecting such a request. Decisions concerning the treatment of incompetent patients illustrate consideration for the family in medical ethics, but hesitations in both law and ethics in accepting family views once expressed. And the tension between the interests of patients and family members over the access to genetic information usually results in respecting the patient's right to confidentiality. This individualistic perception of autonomy, as adopted by medical law, overlooks the patient's relationships with others and is too narrow to face the complexities of human lives.

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Feminism, Ethics of Care, and Medical Ethics

Philosophical Foundations of Medical Law ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198796558.003.0003 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 26-45

Author(s):

Jonathan Herring

Keyword(s):

Medical Ethics ◽

Intellectual History ◽

Ethics Of Care ◽

Medical Law ◽

Law And Ethics ◽

Bioethical Issues ◽

Definition Of

This chapter explores the nature of ethics of care, which has become a highly influential approach to ethical questions. It summarizes its intellectual history and provides a definition of the concept of care. It then sets out the main themes of the approach and considers some of the objections that have been raised to it. The chapter provides some examples of ways in which ethics of care could be used to resolve difficult issues that arise in medical law and ethics. It also explores other feminist approaches to bioethical issues and the significance of ethics of care for medical law.

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