Law

Contemporary Issues in Healthcare Law

Module code: M6024
Level 6
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay

On this module, you’ll explore a range of contemporary issues in healthcare law, focusing on how the law addresses key ethical and legal challenges. Topics vary, depending on current developments, but could include:

• parliament and the courts in healthcare regulation
• medically assisted reproduction and surrogacy
• the regulation of abortion and arguments for decriminalisation
• disputes over the medical treatment of children
• the use of human material
• legal regulation of assisted suicide
• the legality of cosmetic surgery
• provision of innovative treatments
• patient choice and autonomy
• effectiveness of professional self-regulation.

This module examines these issues in the context of their ethical, legal, and social implications.

Module learning outcomes

• Systematically explain key legal rules and principles of contemporary issues in the field of healthcare law
• Systematically explain the contemporary debates about topical issues in healthcare law
• Evaluate critically contemporary issues of healthcare law, where appropriate identifying where reform is necessary and what form that may take
• Demonstrate the ability to initiate and undertake independent research on contemporary issues of healthcare law