Ethics & Health Law News

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Archive for category UK Health Services

Call for more obesity surgery to cut benefits and NHS bills

Sep 9

Posted by Nancy Lentz in Best Interests, Public Health, UK Health Services, obesity | Comments off

The Guardian, By Denis Campbell,  7 September 2010

“The extremely low availability of surgery to correct obesity is leading over the long term to the expenditure of hundreds of millions of pounds in benefit payments and costs to the NHS, a report says. Not offering a gastric bypass or gastric band surgery to people who are extremely overweight means that large sums are having to be spent on unemployment and other social security benefits, hospital treatment and prescriptions, claims the Royal College of Surgeons of England.”

Find article here.

Doctors set to advise patients via webcam

Sep 9

Posted by Nancy Lentz in Internet, Resource Allocation, Rural Health, Telemedicine, UK Health Services | Comments off

The Scotsman, By Adam Morris, 9 September 2010

“Thousands of patients will be able to speak to their consultant via webcam under a project being rolled out by NHS Lothian.  The health board is already set to save £1.4 million a year after video conferencing was recently introduced for staff. Health chiefs think it could be extended to patients, saving them even more money and time.”
Find article here.

Row over NHS porn for IVF couples

Sep 9

Posted by Nancy Lentz in Artifical Reproductive Technology, Clinical Ethics, Sexuality, UK Health Services | Comments off

The Scotsman, AP, 9 September 2010
“NHS trusts have been criticised for supplying pornography to couples undergoing IVF. Think tank 2020health.org said the use of porn to help men produce sperm samples promoted “adultery of the mind”.  Survey results, revealed yesterday, show 33 NHS trusts offer pornography in their IVF clinics. One trust – the Royal Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust – spent £7,350 on a media suite for its clinic for the viewing of pornography, the study said.”
Find article here.

What Britain could learn from Portugal’s drugs policy

Sep 7

Posted by Sabina Bhate in Health Law, Illegal drug use, UK Health Services | Comments off

Guardian- 05 September, 2010

Author: Peter Beaumont

“A decade ago Portugal took a radical new approach to illegal drugs by treating users as people with social problems rather than as criminals. Could it work in the UK?”

Read article here.

A patient and relative centred evaluation of treatment escalation plans: a replacement for the do-not-resuscitate process

Sep 6

Posted by Edwina Light in Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives, Competence and Capacity, Informed Consent, UK Health Services | Comments off

J Med Ethics 2010;36:518-520 doi:10.1136/jme.2009.033977
Authors: L Obolensky, T Clark, G Matthew, M Mercer
“The Treatment Escalation Plan (TEP) was introduced into our trust in an attempt to improve patient involvement and experience of their treatment in hospital and to embrace and clarify a wider remit of treatment options than the Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order currently offers. Our experience suggests that the patient and family are rarely engaged in DNR discussions. This is acutely relevant considering that the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) now obliges these discussions to take place. The TEP is a form that the doctor completes, ideally with the competent patient or close relative, documenting what treatment options would be appropriate if that patient were to become acutely unwell. Ventilation of the lungs, cardiac resuscitation, renal replacement therapy, intravenous fluids and antibiotics are all discussed. The study evaluated patient and relative experiences with the TEP…”
Find abstract here.

The potential impact of an opt-out system for organ donation in the UK

Sep 6

Posted by Edwina Light in Health Law, Organs and Tissue, UK Health Services | Comments off

J Med Ethics 2010;36:534-538 doi:10.1136/jme.2009.031757
Author: Romelie Rieu
“The recent report of the UK government’s Organ Donation Taskforce is in favour of continuing with the current organ donation system rather than changing to an opt-out system where people are assumed to be willing to donate. How did it reach this decision and is it correct?”
Find abstract here.

Lack of branded medicines ‘hitting patients hard’

Sep 5

Posted by Nancy Lentz in Global and International Health, Resource Allocation, The Pharmaceutical Industry, UK Health Services | Comments off

The Scotsman, By Angus Howarth, 4 September 2010
“The UK is facing a serious shortage of branded medicines and the problem has got worse in the last year, have warned.  Drugs intended for UK patients are being exported for sale abroad to take advantage of exchange rates and there have been issues with pharmaceutical company quota systems.”
Find article here.

Mesothelioma: Hospice wins landmark victory in asbestos cancer case

Aug 31

Posted by Sabina Bhate in Health Law, Negligence, UK Health Services | Comments off

Observer- 29 August, 2010

Author: Mark Gould

“Hospices that care for victims of a form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure hope to get help with treatment costs following a landmark court ruling.”

Read article here.

Directed and conditional deceased donor organ donations: laws and misconceptions

Aug 31

Posted by Edwina Light in Health Law, Organs and Tissue, Principle-Based Ethics, Regulatory Compliance, UK Health Services | Comments off

Med Law Rev 2010 18: 275-301; doi:10.1093/medlaw/fwq019
Authors: Antonia J. Cronin and James F. Douglas
“In this paper, we contend that the acceptance of the ‘central principle’ of unconditional deceased donor organ donation as legally binding, or close to legally binding, rather than as an operational policy, is just such a misinterpretation, and seek to demonstrate not only that directed and conditional deceased donor organ donations are not illegal per se, but also that to overrule an individual’s request (or attempt to place a condition upon a donation) may conflict in law with the principle of ‘appropriate consent’ considered by many to be the central fundamental tenet and ‘golden thread’ of the 2004 Act. …The clash between individual authorisation and public benefit was brought to the fore in the ‘Ashworth Affair’ of 2008, which thus forms a useful starting point for an analysis of the relationship between underlying ethical principles, regulatory policy, and the actual law of organ donation.”
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O’Reilly v Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust [2010] NSWSC 909

Aug 24

Posted by Edwina Light in Case Law, UK Health Services | Comments off

Judgement of Studdert AJ, 20 August 2010
“[1] HIS HONOUR: The plaintiff Sue Ellen O’Reilly is the widow of David O’Reilly who died in England on 2 November 2006 aged 55. Shortly stated, it is alleged that the deceased died from cancer by reason of failures in diagnosis and treatment. The plaintiff has commenced proceedings by way of statement of claim in this Court seeking damages on her behalf and on behalf of the children of her marriage with the deceased. Proceedings have been commenced against the first defendant being responsible for operations at St Richards Hospital Chichester, in the United Kingdom, where the deceased was examined and treated…
[2] The application presently before the Court is an application brought by the first defendant seeking an order that the proceedings in this Court be permanently stayed. …
[3] The basis of the application is that in all of the circumstances of this case this court is a “clearly inappropriate forum” to entertain the proceedings.
[4] The plaintiff resists the application brought by the first defendant.
Find decision here.