Rights Contact Login For More Details
More About This Title Withholding and Withdrawing Life-prolongingMedical Treatment 3e
English
- An authoritative book on one of the most fundamental and contentious issues for health care professionals
- Fully updated to include provisions of the Mental Capacity Act (April 2007); the latest policy on advance directives and the impact of the Human Rights Act on such decisions
- Provides guidance on the appointment of welfare attorneys to make health care decisions once capacity is lost
- Discusses recent cases, including Burke, baby MB, and Wyatt
- Written by medical ethics professionals in consultation with the appropriate medical and legal experts and in agreement with the General Medical Council's guidelines
English
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council.
English
Medical Ethics Committee viii
Editorial board for the third edition x
Acknowledgements for the third edition xi
Introduction xii
Part 1: How to use this guidance 1
1. Scope, purpose and structure of this guidance 1
Part 2: Defining key terms and concepts 3
2. The primary goal of medicine 3
3. Life-prolonging treatment 5
4. Capacity and incapacity 5
5. Duty of care 6
6. Quality of life 8
7. Benefit 10
8. Harm 11
9. Best interests 12
10. Futility 14
11. Basic care 15
12. Artificial nutrition and hydration 15
13. Oral nutrition and hydration 17
14. Foresight and intention 18
15. Withholding or withdrawing treatment 19
16. Conscientious objection 20
17. Resource management 21
Part 3: Legal and ethical considerations that apply to all decisions to withhold or withdraw treatment 23
18. Human Rights Act 1998 23
19. Fairness and non-discrimination 28
20. Communication 31
21. Confidentiality 32
22. Legal review 34
Part 4: Medical considerations that apply to all decisions to withhold or withdraw treatment 36
23. Medical assessment 36
24. Medical decision making 39
Part 5: Decision making by adults with capacity 43
25. The law 43
26. Communication and information 47
Part 6: Decision making on behalf of adults who lack capacity 50
England and Wales 50
27. Patients with a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) 50
28. Patients with an advance decision about medical treatment 52
29. Patients without a Lasting Power of Attorney or advance decision 57
30. Patients in persistent vegetative state (pvs) 61 Scotland 62
31. Patients with a welfare power of attorney or welfare guardian 62
32. Patients with an advance decision about medical treatment 64
33. Patients without a welfare power of attorney or advance decision 67
34. Patients in persistent vegetative state (pvs) 68
Northern Ireland 69
35. Patients with an advance decision about medical treatment 69
36. Patients without an advance decision about medical treatment 69
37. Patients in persistent vegetative state (pvs) 71
All UK jurisdictions 72
38. Capacity and incapacity 72
39. Communication and information 73
40. Assessing best interests 77
41. Dealing with disagreement 80
Part 7: Decision making by young people with capacity 83
42. The law in England,Wales and Northern Ireland 83
43. The law in Scotland 88
44. Assessing capacity 91
45. Communicating with young people 92
46. Dealing with disagreement 95
Part 8: Decision making for children and young people who lack capacity 96
47. The law 96
48. Duties owed to babies and children 102
49. Communicating with parents 104
50. Assessing best interests 106
51. Dealing with disagreement 108
Part 9: Once a decision has been reached 109
52. Keeping others informed 109
53. Recording and reviewing the decision 109
54. Providing support 111
55. Respecting patients’ wishes after death 113
Appendix 1 Useful addresses 114
References 118
Index 123
English
Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy, 2008
"The report bears three intriguing strengths: (1) The ethical argumentation is impressively clear, consistent and convincing... (2) The ethical argumentation is backed up by constant references to recent legal cases and decisions and to the latest legislation. (3) The structure of the book is highly transparent, the style is clearly written and easy to read, and throughout the whole book the reader is spoiled with precise summaries of the main arguments and theses. Due to these strengths, the BMA guidance paper not only provides a comprehensive overview of the legal position in Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and advances the debate by clear ethical arguments in those areas that are not addressed by the present law. It also serves as a role model for other European countries which seem to fall far behind such an elaborated position paper and where doctors still muddle through the complexity of end-of-life decision-making in everyday clinical life...
... The BMA report should become an obligatory reading for any ethicist, politician or jurist who focuses on end-of-life decision making and serves as a helpful guidance for any doctor concerned with decisions about life-prolonging treatments in clinical life" - Matthis Synofzik, Tubingen, Germany, Med Health Care and Philos (2007)
