Chester v Afshar [2005]
A client advised by a neurological expert to perform surgery on low back pain. It was complicated by Cauda Equina Syndrome. She sued the doctor for not informing the risk. Judgment held: Although the risk of the operation going wrong would not at all have been changed had the patient been warned, it was the duty of the doctor to warn her. It is basic principle of good medical practice that adults should consent on a fully informed basis to surgery, aware of all risks.
Medical Innovation Bill United Kingdom
Saatchi Medical Innovation Bill [2013] proposed that doctors be permitted to use non-standard treatments for any medical condition. Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Bill [2015-2016]. A major focus was to set out a process doctors could follow to 'responsibly' depart from standard medical practices, without constituting negligence. Amended Bill [2016]. A mechanism for collecting and sharing information on innovative medical treatments. The doctors should capture the u
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust v LM [2014]
An application was made by the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation for a declaration that it would be lawful to withhold a blood transfusion from LM, a gravely ill 63-year-old Jehovah Witness. Judgment held: Application was granted and lawful. The applicant's long-standing beliefs and values carried determinative weight. ### A good example of respecting patient's belief !
North West Lancashire Health Authority v A, D & G [1999][2000]
Three respondents have transsexualism and attended Gender Identity Clinic and requested gender reassignment treatment. The health authority refused to fund them under the National Health Service in accordance with its policy in 1995 and 1998. They applied for judicial review. In 1998, the judge quashed the health authority's decisions and policy. On appeal to the Court of Appeal, the health authority claimed due to the limited resources, transsexualism had a lower priority. J
Barnett v Chelsea and Kensington Hospital Management [1969]
Three walk-in male patients attended Accident and Emergency Department but the medical officer just dismissed them. Later, one of them died of rare arsenic poisoning. This is a case about 'causation', whether the discharge of the patient leads to his death or not. Judgment held: 'But for' even admitted there was little chance or no chance that the only effective antidote would have been administered to the patient in time. Although the hospital had been negligent, because it
Vulnerable adults with capacity: court's jurisdiction - DL v A Local Authority [2012]
DL, a man in his 50s who lived with his mother and father had behaved aggressively towards his parents, physically and verbally, controlling access to visitors and seeking to coerce his father into transferring ownership of the house into DL's name, and pressuring his mother into moving into a care home against her wishes. Both elderly parents did have capacity under Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005). An injunction was applied because interference of the parents' process of
Pearce v United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust [1998] [1999]
A medical practitioner advised a mother to delay the induction of childbirth, but the child was then stillbirth. She complained that he should have advised her of the risk of the baby being stillborn. Judgment held: the law, as indicated in the cases to which the judge just referred, that if there is significant risk which would affect the judgment of a reasonable patient, then in the normal course it is the responsibility of a medical practitioner to inform the patient of th
Simms v Simms [2002] and Best Interest in Special Cases
A 18-year-old male and a 16-year-old female suffering from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) which rendered them mentally incapacitated. The parents of the patients wished them to receive a treatment that inhibits the formation of abnormal prion. They sought declaration that each patient lacked the capacity to consent to treatment. This is sought because vCJD is an incurable disease with no 'alternative' treatment. Judgment held: granting the declaration as it is a 'be
Janet Birch v University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Court of Appeal - Queen'
Birch was admitted because of vascular third nerve palsy and an angiogram by catheter was done with consent form signed but she was complicated by stroke in a neurosurgical ward. During the initial admission the consultant doctor recommended Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) but the time slot was unavailable and she was transferred to this hospital for further investigation and treatment. Birch sued for negligence of the relevant body because reasonable 'alternatives' were not
Controversies of In-Vitro Fertilization and IVF Tourism
Definition of infertility and its prevalence Infertility is defined as failure of pregnancy after one year of regular intercourse between man and woman. The prevalence (1) of infertility in UK was 12.5% among woman and 10.1% among man. Infertility can be treatable if the cause is due to infection but most of the time it needs to be treated with IVF. There is an increasing prevalence of infertility in the UK and around the world and I shall explain the reasons later in the art
