LL205     
Medical Law

This information is for the 2013/14 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Emily Jackson NAB7.07

Additional Teachers:

Dr Julie McCandless

Availability

This course is available on the BA in Anthropology and Law and LLB in Laws. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available to General Course students.

Course content

Medical law is a rapidly developing and increasingly important subject. The rationing of expensive new drugs, and the future of the NHS have become central political issues.  New scientific developments, such as cloning, face transplants, stem cell research and direct-to-consumer genetic testing, are invariably accompanied by demands for their regulation. In this course we examine the legal framework within which health services are provided, and we explore some of the difficult ethical dilemmas that arise when determining the limits of medical innovation. 

Subjects include malpractice litigation; consent; capacity; confidentiality; research on human subjects; resource allocation; abortion; surrogacy; assisted conception; ‘designer babies’; embryo and stem cell research; cloning; mental health law; organ transplantation and assisted dying.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 1 hour of lectures and 1 hour of classes in the ST.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the MT and 1 essay in the LT.

Indicative reading

Jackson, Medical Law: Text, Cases and Materials 3rd edition (Oxford UP, 2013). 

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the main exam period.

Key facts

Department: Law

Total students 2012/13: 100

Average class size 2012/13: 15

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

PDAM skills

  • Communication
  • Specialist skills

Course survey results

(2010/11 - 2012/13 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 78.1%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

1.9

Materials (Q2.3)

1.8

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

1.8

Lectures (Q2.5)

2.6

Integration (Q2.6)

1.9

Contact (Q2.7)

2

Feedback (Q2.8)

2

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

79.4%

Maybe

16.5%

No

4.1%