Table of Contents

Part 1: Principles
Chapter 1: Autonomy: Challenging the Consensus
Chapter 2: Other Contenders for a Voice
Non-maleficence: Primum Non Nocere: Above All, Do No harm
Beneficence
Justice
Professional Integrity
Rights and Duties
Chapter 3: Whose Autonomy?
Part 2: Before Life
Chapter 4: Reproductive Autonomy
Should One Be Required to Reproduce?
Should You Be Entitled to Have a Child?
Applications to Adopt
Applications by Prisoners
Chapter 5: Abortion
Chapter 6: Questions Raised by Reproductive Technology
Part 3: Between Birth and Death
Chapter 7: Confidentiality
What Principles Are Embodied in the Law of Confidentiality?
From Principle to Practice: Egdell, Genetic Counselling and Axon
W v Egdell
Genetic Counselling
The Sue Axon Case
Chapter 8: The Law of Consent
Duty to Prevent Suicide: Reeves v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis
Autonomy Over One's Genitalia? R v Brown and Others
The Caesarean Section Cases
What Do We Mean When We Say 'I Want . . .'?
What is 'Relevant Information'?
Patient Responsibility
The Limits of Consent
Incidental Findings on Operation
Consent, Biobanks and the Effect of Analysing Consent Questions in ECHR Terms
The Notion of Capacity
Best Interests and Incompetent Adults
Children
Chapter 9: Litigation, Rights and Duties
Chapter 10: Medical Research on Humans
Chapter 11: The End of Life
Part 4: After Death
Chapter 12: Transplantation
Xenotransplantation
Live Donor Homotransplantation
Post-Mortem Homotransplantation
Chapter 13: The Ownership of Body Parts
Tissue From the Living
Tissue From the Living and the Dead
Existing Holdings
Who Can Give Consent?
Chapter 14: Epilogue

About the Author

Charles Foster is a Barrister at Outer Temple Chambers, London, and teaches medical law and ethics at the University of Oxford. He is the author, editor or a contributor to many books and hundreds of other publications: www.charlesfoster.co.uk

Reviews

...fresh, clear and eminently readable...This is a short book, passionately argued, which all those interested in medical law, and the rights and duties of patients and doctors, should read. You may disagree: you won't be bored. Bio-Science Law Review Vol 10, Issue 3, 2009 This is certainly a useful book for people wishing to understand some of the legal background in key areas of medical law...it is also worthy of consideration in its own right by anyone seeking an alternative perspective on autonomy in health care ethics. Vincent Mitchell Nursing Ethics 16 (6), 2009 This book provides an accessible critique of the principle of 'autonomy' in the context of medical law. As a lawyer himself, Charles Foster succinctly summarises the various legal issues arising, as the title suggests, from conception to death. Antony Blackburn-Starza BioNews Newsletter 5th January 2010 This book is an important challenge to the dominance of autonomy in medical ethics and law ... [it] will ... be a useful and thought-provoking resource for those studying or teaching medical law and ethics. Mark Campbell Triple Helix Easter 2010 This is an important addition to the ongoing ethical, as well as medico-legal debate regarding autonomy. Foster's work provides an excellent point of departure for those new to the area, as well as a rich source of reference material for subsequent investigations. Doug Morrison Medical Law Review June 2010 Are you a hirsute medical lawyer, with a low blood pressure and writer's block? Then this is the book for you. You will not have to read too many pages before your blood will be boiling, you will be pulling out your hair, and grabbing your keyboard to type a furious riposte. .. This book is a powerful challenge to the role that autonomy plays in medical law and ethics. The book demonstrates a wide-ranging understanding of the law. Few authors could hope to make as many sharp points as Foster does in such a short space of time. This must be the most fast-paced and easy-to-read book on the topic. For that reason it may well be of interest to students and no doubt lecturers will enjoy setting their chapters for students to read in order to provoke a response. Therein lies the strength of this book. It is a book that demands a reaction. Jonathan Herring Legal Studies Volume 30, No 2 Charles Foster's book provides a welcome addition to the literature by confronting some of these premises in the context of English medical law. Katri Lohmus Social and Legal Studies 19 (3) 2010 Charles Foster minces no words. Choosing Life, Choosing Death is a comprehensive and passionately argued attack against the "tyranny of autonomy" in medical ethics and law. Katharina Heyer The Journal of Law and Society Volume 45, Issue 1