Health Law, Human Rights And the Biomedicine Convention


Book Description

In 1997, the Council of Europe established the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. It is generally regarded as an important addition to the general human rights laid down in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950), in particular with a view to the developments in modern biology and medicine. The Biomedicine Convention, which entered into force in 2000, is a framework treaty, meaning that a number of issues have to be dealt with or will be elaborated in additional Protocols; at this moment, three such Protocols have already been opened for signature. This volume of essays, written in honour of Henriette Roscam Abbing upon her retirement as Professor of Health Law at the University of Utrecht, gives an overview of some of the most important issues raised by the Convention. In six parts, this volume discusses the basic concepts and leading principles; the provision of services; the rights of patients; research; human tissue and genetics; and the implementation of the Convention.




Biomedicine and Human Rights


Book Description

The Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, also referred to as the "Oviedo Convention", celebrated the 10th anniversary of its entry into force in 2009. This legally binding instrument aims to protect the integrity, dignity and identity of all human beings and guarantees everyone, without discrimination, the respect for their rights and fundamental freedoms with regard to the application of biology and medicine. It shares with the European Convention on Human Rights the same underlying approach and many ethical principles, and provides a general framework for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in the field of biomedicine. The Oviedo Convention also addresses new challenges in biomedicine that are brought about by technological and scientific developments, making it a reference text for patient rights at the European level. The principles laid down in the Oviedo Convention were further developed and complemented in additional protocols in specific fields: prohibition of cloning of human beings, transplantation of organs and tissues of human origin, and biomedical research and genetic testing for health purposes.




Human Rights and Biomedicine


Book Description

The eight chapters within this volume are structured around an exploration of the fundamental issues in the field of biomedical human rights: dignity and autonomy in not only procreative liberties but throughout the complete cycle of life and death, the freedom of scientific inquiry into the new biotechnological methods of collaborative reproduction, the right to genetic integrity at birth and throughout life, and the equitable right to health or access to health care benefits during life and old age. All these central issues are tested, of necessity, but utilitarian principles which, in turn, force the templates for decision making, evaluate the gravity of harm deriving from a particular human right and its recognition and enforcement measured against the utility of the social, economic, or cultural good accruing from recognition of such a right in the first instance. Ultimately, cultural relativism will be seen - more often than universality - as the determinative point of balance. This volume not only informs the ongoing debate on the role of human rights in biomedicine, but will also provide enlightened responses to the troublesome issues presented in this new age of biotechnology.




Nordic Health Law in a European Context


Book Description

This anthology aims to provide Nordic perspectives on the young and evolving field of health law – or biomedical law – by reflecting on issues that have been explored within the activities of the Nordic Network for Research in Biomedical Law. In the emergence of this fairly new legal discipline, it has become very clear that the Nordic region forms a part of Europe that has been strongly influenced by both hard and soft law initiatives from the European Union and the Council of Europe, but also that Nordic identity, culture, and collaboration clearly remain an important factor in the legal development of this particular region.




Legal and Forensic Medicine


Book Description

This is a comprehensive reference text that examines the current state of Legal Medicine, which encompasses Forensic Medicine, in the 21st century. It examines the scope of both legal and forensic medicine, its application and study and has adopted a wide ranging approach including multinational authorship. It reviews the differences between and similarities of forensic and legal medicine, the need for academic qualification, the applications to many and varied fields including international aid, military medicine, health law and the application of medical knowledge to both criminal law and tort/civil law, sports medicine and law, gender and age related factors from obstetrics through to geriatrics and palliative care as well as cultural differences exploring the Christian/Judeo approach compared with that within Islamic cultures, Buddhism and Hinduism. The book looks at practical applications of legal medicine within various international and intercultural frameworks. This is a seminal authoritative text in legal and forensic medicine. It has a multi-author and multinational approach which crosses national boundaries. There is a great interest in the development of health law and legal medicine institutes around the world and this text comes in on the ground floor of this burgeoning discipline and provides the foundation text for many courses, both undergraduate and postgraduate. It defines the place of legal medicine as a specialized discipline.​




Society's Choices


Book Description

Breakthroughs in biomedicine often lead to new life-giving treatments but may also raise troubling, even life-and-death, quandaries. Society's Choices discusses ways for people to handle today's bioethics issues in the context of America's unique history and cultureâ€"and from the perspectives of various interest groups. The book explores how Americans have grappled with specific aspects of bioethics through commission deliberations, programs by organizations, and other mechanisms and identifies criteria for evaluating the outcomes of these efforts. The committee offers recommendations on the role of government and professional societies, the function of commissions and institutional review boards, and bioethics in health professional education and research. The volume includes a series of 12 superb background papers on public moral discourse, mechanisms for handling social and ethical dilemmas, and other specific areas of controversy by well-known experts Ronald Bayer, Martin Benjamin, Dan W. Brock, Baruch A. Brody, H. Alta Charo, Lawrence Gostin, Bradford H. Gray, Kathi E. Hanna, Elizabeth Heitman, Thomas Nagel, Steven Shapin, and Charles M. Swezey.




The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights


Book Description

In October 2005, UNESCO Member States adopted by acclamation the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. For the first time in the history of bioethics, some 190 countries committed themselves and the international community to respect and apply fundamental ethical principles related to medicine, the life sciences and associated technologies. This publication provides a new impetus to the dissemination of the Declaration, and is part of the organisation's continuous effort to contribute to the understanding of its principles worldwide. The authors, who were almost all involved in the elaboration of the text of the Declaration, were asked to respond on each article: Why was it included? What does it mean? How can it be applied? Their responses shed light on the historical background of the text and its evolution throughout the drafting process. They also provide a reflection on its relevance to previous declarations and bioethical literature, and its potential interpretation and application in challenging and complex bioethical debates.




Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, Concerning Biomedical Research


Book Description

This protocol covers the full range of research activities in the health field that involve interventions on human beings. It aims to protect the dignity and identity of everyone involved, without discrimination.




Solidarity in Biomedicine and Beyond


Book Description

In times of global economic and political crises, the notion of solidarity is gaining new currency. This book argues that a solidarity-based perspective can help us to find new ways to address pressing problems. Exemplified by three case studies from the field of biomedicine: databases for health and disease research, personalised healthcare, and organ donation, it explores how solidarity can make a difference in how we frame problems, and in the policy solutions that we can offer.




The Reality of Human Dignity in Law and Bioethics


Book Description

Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, this volume explores the reality of the principle of human dignity – a core value which is increasingly invoked in our societies and legal systems. This book provides a systematic overview of the legal and philosophical concept in sixteen countries representing different cultural and religious contexts and examines in particular its use in a developing case law (including of the European Court of Human Rights and of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights). Whilst omnipresent in the context of bioethics, this book reveals its wider use in healthcare more generally, treatment of prisoners, education, employment, and matters of life and death in many countries. In this unique comparative work, contributing authors share a multidisciplinary analysis of the use (and potential misuse) of the principle of dignity in Europe, Africa, South and North America and Asia. By revealing the ambivalence of human dignity in a wide range of cultures and contexts and through the evolving reality of case law, this book is a valuable resource for students, scholars and professionals working in bioethics, medicine, social sciences and law. Ultimately, it will make all those who invoke the principle of human dignity more aware of its multi-layered character and force us all to reflect on its ability to further social justice within our societies.