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Law, Ethics and Compromise at the Limits of Life

To Treat or not to Treat?

Richard Huxtable (University of Bristol, UK)

$305

Hardback

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English
Routledge
29 August 2012
There has been a recent flurry of judicial and legislative activity in the realm of end-of-life decision-making, particularly around decisions to provide, or deny, life-supporting treatment to critically ill patients who are not capable of expressing their wishes. This book will focus upon decisions to withhold or withdraw life-supporting treatment from incompetent patients. The book offers a critical examination of the latest developments such as the Mental Capacity Act 2005, alongside more familiar principles such as the ""best interests"" standard, with a view to developing a new framework for resolving disputes in the clinic that is not only theoretically robust but also practically relevant.

Key questions addressed by the book include: Which legal and ethical principles ought to guide health care professionals in deciding whether or not to provide life-supporting treatment to an incompetent patient?

Who should have a say over whether or not treatment is provided, and whose voice -- if anyone's -- ought to be loudest?

What mechanisms ought to be in place for resolving disputes and disagreements when they arise in end-of-life care? What role can and should clinical ethics committees play in these decisions? This book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of health care law, bioethics, jurisprudence, applied ethics, theology, and policy studies, as well as health professionals and members of clinical ethics committees.
By:  
Imprint:   Routledge
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 234mm,  Width: 156mm,  Spine: 14mm
Weight:   590g
ISBN:   9780415492799
ISBN 10:   0415492793
Series:   Biomedical Law and Ethics Library
Pages:   232
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  ELT Advanced ,  Primary
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
1. Judging Law and Ethics at the Limits of Life 2. Law at the Limits of Life: Children, Welfare and Best Interests 3. Law at the Limits of Life: Adults, Incapacity and Precedent Autonomy 4. The Limits of Law at the Limits of Life: To Treat or Not to Treat? 5. Calculating the Value of Life at the Limits of Life 6. A Case for Compromise at the Limits of Life 7. Crafting Compromise: Courts or Clinical Ethics Committees? 8. Committees, Courts and Compromise at the Limits of Life

Richard Huxtable is a Senior Lecturer and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Ethics in Medicine at the University of Bristol, UK.

Reviews for Law, Ethics and Compromise at the Limits of Life: To Treat or not to Treat?

Richard Huxtable's splendid book demonstrates why such conversations are crucial [...] Its structure is logical and easily comprehensible, and the writing always lucid and accessible. [...] He knows the literature, but this is no treatise from an ivory tower. He has also paced the wards and is invigoratingly practical. Charles Foster, University of Oxford Richard Huxtable's recent book on withdrawing treatment (Law, Ethics and Compromise at the Limits of Life: To Treat or Not to Treat?) provides a perfect companion to his 2007 book on euthanasia (Euthanasia, Ethics and the Law: From Conflict to Compromise). Together the two books present a thoughtful and clear exposition of the middle ground in the ethical and legal debate surrounding end of life decision-making. Specifically, Huxtable argues for compromise. This leads him to defend 'the ethical compromise the law seeks to achieve between multiple values', while also arguing for some significant changes to facilitate the search for compromise, including the creation of a new offence of mercy killing (in the 2007 book), and an enhanced role for clinical ethics committees (in the 2013 book). - Elizabeth Wicks, European Journal of Health Law 22 (2015) 309-314


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