Critical Approaches to the Law of Informed Consent

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica W. Berg ◽  
Paul S. Appelbaum ◽  
Charles W. Lidz ◽  
Lisa S. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Informed Consent ◽  
Current System ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Medical Decisions ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
System P ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
The Law ◽  
State Of Affairs

A number of goals have been posited for the legal doctrine of informed consent. One author, for example, highlights four goals: “1) an ethical goal, in which the law promotes patient autonomy; 2) a decision making goal, in which the law promotes the ability of patients to make medical decisions; 3) a regulatory goal, in which the law attempts to control physicians’ disclosure practices; and 4) a compensatory goal, in which the common law functions as a mechanism to provide monetary compensation for injuries” (1). Another author posits six goals: “1) promoting individual autonomy; 2) respecting human dignity; 3) encouraging professional self-scrutiny; 4) promoting rational decisionmaking; 5) avoiding deceit and coercion; and 6) educating the public” (2). According to critics, the result has been a doctrine and a set of practices that compromise all values and satisfy none in their entirety (1). But commentators who have analyzed the law and practice of informed consent have each generally represented one point of view to the exclusion of others. The resulting debate over informed consent among healthcare practitioners, legal experts, and ethicists should come as no surprise. As long as one relies on a single perspective, it is remarkably easy to find critical things to say about informed consent. Those who would elevate any single value above all others, and steadfastly resist compromise, usually can offer a powerful, even devastating, analysis of the current state of affairs. In this chapter we focus on three critiques—a perspective concerned with promoting individual autonomy, an approach that emphasizes the value of health, and a perspective that places primary emphasis on encouraging discourse and interaction between caregivers and patients—and assess their validity from a perspective that recognizes that the doctrine of informed consent must accommodate a number of competing interests and values. The most trenchant criticism of the state of informed consent law today focuses on the discrepancies between the goals highlighted by the ethical theories of informed consent—primarily, the enhancement of individual autonomy in making medical decisions—and the practical effects of the current system.

Legal Rules for Recovery

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica W. Berg ◽  
Paul S. Appelbaum ◽  
Charles W. Lidz ◽  
Lisa S. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Informed Consent ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Physician Behavior ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Judicial Remedy ◽  
The Law ◽  
Injured Patients

This chapter deals with the legal theory and procedural framework under which patients can obtain redress for their injuries resulting from treatment administered in the absence of informed consent. The evolution of the legal doctrine was driven by the demands of patients for redress for injuries, and more attention has been given by courts and legislatures to the questions of when and how compensation might be obtained than to providing guidance for clinicians. In some important respects, the distinction between the law as it applies to the physician engaged in medical decision making with a patient and the law as it applies to that same patient who later seeks compensation in the courts is an artificial one. Insofar as the spirit of informed consent is not embraced voluntarily by the medical profession, but is adhered to in large part to avoid the likely consequences of failure to observe the legal rules, physician behavior will be shaped not only by the rules themselves but also by the way they are enforced. If, for example, the rules governing the means of redress were complex, time-consuming, and unlikely to yield the desired compensation, few injured patients would pursue a judicial remedy. As a result, physicians would eventually realize that adverse consequences were unlikely to follow from a failure to observe the relevant rules and, except to the extent that they had accepted the ethical theory of informed consent, their adherence to the doctrine would crumble. Some critics of the present system contend that this has already happened (see Chapter 7). On the other hand, rules that make recovery easier and more certain would be likely to encourage compliance with the requirements for informed consent. Differential emphasis by the courts on particular kinds of lapses by clinicians might also shape their actions accordingly. For example, the courts’ focus on risk information has led many physicians to tailor disclosure to emphasize risks. Thus, the issues addressed in this chapter, although framed in legal terminology, are important (some would argue crucial) determinants of the ultimate impact of informed consent.

Introduction to Genetics and the Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Mehlman ◽  
Mette Hartlev ◽  
Sonia Suter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gene Therapy ◽  
Genetic Testing ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Genomic Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
The Law ◽  
Material Information

This chapter provides an overview of the relationship between genetics and the law. Advances in genetics and genomics have created both hopes and concerns and raise a number of legal issues in both the United States and Europe. To understand the legal issues in genetics, it is helpful to have some understanding of the different types of genetic analysis that can be used and for which purposes. In virtually all these contexts, the doctrine of informed consent is important. While the law in the United States and Europe does not generally require non-directiveness, the legal doctrine of informed consent applies in all jurisdictions, imposing on physicians and genetic counselors the legal obligation to disclose material information that could influence a patient's decisions about genetic testing. The other ethical and legal issues that arise with genetic or genomic analysis differ depending on the purpose, context, and technology used. These legal issues concern the methods of regulating genetic tests offered in the clinical setting and through the “direct-to-consumer” online genetic testing industry; genetic discrimination; the scope of privacy protections of genetic information; and the regulation of human gene therapy, gene therapy research, and germline modifications.

scholarly journals Qualified Legislator’s Silence: Problem of Recognition

2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-31
Author(s):  
Ю. І. Чалий
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
Suggested Approach ◽  
Legal Policy ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Major Shortcoming ◽  
Legal Position ◽  
The Law ◽  
Further Development

The problem of developing the ways of recognition of the qualified silence of the legislator has been studied. It has been stated that the “qualified silence of the legislator” is underdeveloped category of law, especially regarding the ways of recognizing such specific legislative silence within the norms of law. This problem has become more urgent due to the revival of case law in Ukraine on the application of the analogy of law and the analogy of legislation. While applying these techniques, overcoming the gaps of civil law, the courts often identify the relevant gaps of the legislation with the qualified silence of the legislator, which is a major shortcoming. Solution of this problem will allow the courts to better identify the qualified silence of the legislator in the law norms. One of the methodological approaches in solving the problem of recognition of the legislator’s qualified silence and the gaps of the legislation is the extension of the relevant research tools. In contrast to the legal position existing in the legal doctrine, the author of the article has critically assessed the ability of systematic interpretation of the law norms to be a self-sufficient method of revealing the legislator’s qualified silence. In order to recognize the true qualified silence of the legislator, the author has offered to concentrate on explaining the legal policy that may be manifested in one or other cases of the legislator’s silent expression of will. At the same time, systematic, historical or doctrinal interpretation of legislation is of relative importance to the need for clarifying legal policy. From the point of view of determining the degree of scientific novelty, the suggested approach has the nature of further development of doctrinal provisions. The author has noted on the necessity of further elaboration of the studied problems, in particular, in determining the location of each of the ways of recognizing the qualified silence of the legislator within the system of methods of interpretation of legal norms.

Legal doctrine in crisis: towards a European legal science

Legal Studies ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Van Hoecke ◽  
François Ost
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Reasoning ◽  
Legal Rule ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Important Task ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
The Law ◽  
Preparatory Work ◽  
Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch

Legal doctrine has two aims: describing and systematising the law. The description of currently valid law within a given legal system is the most visible and, from a quantitative point of view, the most important task for legal doctrine. From a qualitative point of view, however, systematisation of the law is by far its most important task. Systematisation is the construction of a conceptual framework of the law, which is a necessary basis for any legal rule and for any legal reasoning. Systematisation presupposes a description of the rules, principles, concepts, etc, which are to be systematised. But description of the rules is impossible without the conceptual framework that the systematisation of the law offers. Even the law itself is based on this conceptual framework. Codifications, such as theCode Napoléonor the GermanBürgerliches Gesetzbuch,were made possible because of the centuries-long preparatory work of legal doctrine.

scholarly journals Non-legal rules: problems of their determination and enforcement (theoretical aspect)

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
S. Biryukov ◽  
T. Biryukova
Keyword(s):  
Current System ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
External Observer ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Social Law ◽  
Legal Method ◽  
The Law ◽  
Legal Force

The subject of the paper is the approaches to the concept of “non-legal rules”.The main aim of the paper is to confirm or disprove the hypothesis that rules become non-legal when they contradict the principles of law and are totally ineffective.The description of methodology. The authors apply methodology of different legal theories: natural law, libertarian-legal, sociological, communicative, normative and integrative approaches to law, using formal logical and sociological research methods (observation method).The formal-legal method is also used with regard to characteristics of particular Russian laws.The main results and scope of their application. Legal rule may be unlawful for an external observer – in coordinates of another legal system or in comparison with law in a social sense. From the point of view of the internal observer, including the law enforcer, the following rules are non-legal: 1) regulations that were adopted, but initially or later it was officially recognized that they contradict the principles of law and the rules of higher legal force; 2) rules that could not be applied principally or that were not implemented until their cancellation.Many rules widely assessed as unfair, immoral, not consistent with the principles of law could be a part of the current system of law for a long time and could not be officially qualified as defective. Most of the very ineffective rules are still implemented selectively, some of them become quite effective in the future. Rules that are obviously not in conformity with acts of higher legal force may not be recognized as illegal officially because of various reasons. All of the non-legal rules, however, are very problematic for the law enforcement officials in several respects:– they may come into conflict with other regulatory systems of social regulation, including other social law of large (significant) groups and organizations, such situation entails difficulties in their legitimation and implementation;– they may come into conflict with other acts (rules, legal principles) within this or a related system of legal law;– they can be canceled (invalidated) in future, inter alia from the moment of their adoption.Conclusions. Rules are also potentially illegal, when they: 1) clearly contradict the principles of law and the rules of higher legal force; 2) are extremely ineffective. Such acts of lawmaking are very problematic from the point of view of their legitimation and implementation. Such acts are relatively common in Russian reality. The orientation of the practice to check their legal nature within the framework of the norm control is important for movement towards effective, fair and non-contradictory law, and not in the opposite direction.

Penerapan Hukum Wakaf Uang di Indonesia Perspektif Legal System Theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masdar Masdar
Keyword(s):  
System Theory ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Culture ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Muslim Society ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government

Cash waqf in Indonesia has been long enough implemented based on some rules enacted by government and other rules defined by The Waqf Board of Indonesia (BWI). However, the implementation of cash waqf has not reached the level of success. Therefore, this article studies the application of cash waqf law in Indonesia according to Friedman’s legal system theory. The legal system theory of Friedman firstly looks at the substance of the law, which is the rules or regulations; and secondly it examines the structure of the law, encompassing the law enforcement agencies, such as judge, prosecutor, police and legal counselors. And lastly the theory examines the element of legal culture, which is a response from Muslim society. The first two examinations indicate that there is nothing to be a problem. But from the last examination there is a problem regarding the trust from Muslim society. From the legal culture point of view, the implementation of cash waqf by the government, which is performed by BWI, needs attracting society’s credentials in order to improve and maximize the performance of cash waqf in Indonesia.

scholarly journals Sex Work in Slovenia: Assessing the Needs of Sex Workers

2021 ◽  
pp. 136078042110184
Author(s):  
Leja Markelj ◽  
Alisa Selan ◽  
Tjaša Dolinar ◽  
Matej Sande
Keyword(s):  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Distress ◽  
Legal Advice ◽  
The Law ◽  
Client Relations ◽  
Insight Into

The research comprehensively identifies the needs and problems of sex workers in Slovenia from the point of view of three groups of actors in a decriminalized setting. The objective of the rapid needs assessment was to identify the needs of sex workers as perceived by themselves. In order to gain a deeper insight into this topic, we analyzed the functioning of the organizations working with the population, and examined the perspective of the clients. The results of the study show that no aid programmes have been developed for sex workers, even though organizations from various fields often come in contact with this population. Sex workers express the need to be informed about various topics (health, the law, legal advice) and emphasize client relations as the primary issue. The findings indicate the need for the development of a specialized aid programmes to address the fields of advocacy, reducing social distress and providing psychosocial assistance.

scholarly journals Creation of Technical Conditions for Use or Infringement – The Meanders of the Warehouse Keeper’s Liability in Light of CJEU Judgment C-567/18 Coty Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-282
Author(s):  
Krystyna Szczepanowska-Kozłowska
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Literal Meaning ◽  
Property Right ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Property Law ◽  
Industrial Property ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
The Law ◽  
Trademark Use

AbstractOne form of industrial property right infringement is stocking for the purpose of offering or marketing. This form of infringement appears both in EU legal acts on trademarks or designs, as well as in national regulations, including those concerning patents. What is specific to stocking when compared to other activities comprising the stipulated exclusivity of the holder of industrial property rights is the fact that the literal meaning of “stocking” does not explain whether the infringing party or the warehouse keeper is the entity that places the goods in storage. The structure of industrial property rights as absolute rights would theoretically permit the view that the law is violated by both the entity that accepts the goods for storage and the entity that places such goods in storage. To determine if there is an infringement, it must be established what the goods being stocked are further intended for. It is not without significance that the finding of an infringement of industrial property rights does not depend on fault or awareness. From the point of view of the industrial property law regime, it is difficult to find arguments against this understanding of infringement by stocking. Since the offeror of goods infringing industrial property rights may be held liable even if the goods have not yet been manufactured, it is conceivable that the entity accepting such goods for stocking is also liable. This interpretation of the concept of stocking would certainly correspond to the absolute nature of liability for infringement.In a recent judgment the CJEU confirmed that the warehouse keeper who, on behalf of a third party, stores goods which infringe trademark rights only creates the technical conditions for trademark use by this third party provided that the warehouse keeper is not aware of that infringement. The CJEU also confirmed that only the person who decides about the purpose of storing the goods can be treated as an infringer. However, the CJEU did not respond to the question regarding whether the warehouse keeper could be treated as an infringer if it pursues the aims of storing the goods at the request of the entity that put the goods into storage.

Certified Patient Decision Aids: Solving Persistent Problems with Informed Consent Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thaddeus Mason Pope
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Medical Treatment ◽  
Shared Decision Making ◽  
Decision Aids ◽  
Shared Decision ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
Patient Decision Aids ◽  
Patient Decision ◽  
Decision Making Processes

The legal doctrine of informed consent has overwhelmingly failed to assure that the medical treatment patients get is the treatment patients want. This Article describes and defends an ongoing shift toward shared decision making processes incorporating the use of certified patient decision aids.

scholarly journals Influence of the law on risk and informed consent

BMJ ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 327 (7417) ◽  
pp. 731-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J Mazur
Keyword(s):  
Informed Consent ◽  
The Law
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document