Abstract
This chapter gives a general overview of the interconnectedness of clinical ethics and the law. It deals with the various aspects of health care in the intensive care unit, from patient rights to the practices of caregivers. Laws differ from country to country, and in this chapter, some of these differences are highlighted. A set of core ethical matters with common situations in the intensive care unit will bring together ethics and the law. Knowledge of the applicable law where the clinician practices is indispensable.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Singer P. Ethics. In: Encyclopedia Britannica; 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy.
United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
American Medical Association. Patient rights. Code of medical ethics opinion. 1.1.3. 2022. https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/ethics/patient-rights.
Olejarczyk JP, Young M. Patient rights and ethics. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022.
Beauchamp TL, Childress JF. Principles of biomedical ethics. 8th ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2019.
Appelbaum PS, Grisso T. Assessing patients’ capacities to consent to treatment. N Engl J Med. 1988;319:1635–8.
World Health Assembly. Resolution 67.19, May 24, 2014. http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA67/A67_R19-en.pdf
Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, American Medical Association. Decisions near the end of life. JAMA. 1992;267:2229–33.
Brennan F, Lohman D, Gwyther L. Access to pain management as a human right. Am J Public Health. 2019;109:61–5.
Grace PJ. Professional advocacy: widening the scope of accountability. Nurs Philos. 2001;2:151–62.
Wendler D. Are physicians obligated always to act in the patient's best interests? J Med Ethics. 2010;36:66–70.
United States Congress. H.R.3300—Doctors’ Bill of Rights Act. 1999. https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-bill/3300/all-info
Keown J. The legal revolution: from "sanctity of life" to "quality of life" and "autonomy". J Contemp Health L & Pol'y. 1997;14:253.
DeMartino ES, Dudzinski DM, Doyle CK, et al. Who decides when a patient can't? Statutes on alternate decision makers. N Engl J Med. 2017;376:1478–82.
Lautrette A, Peigne V, Watts J, et al. Surrogate decision makers for incompetent ICU patients: a European perspective. Curr Opin Critical Care. 2008;14:714–9.
Conventions on the Rights of the Child. Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989 entry into force 2 September 1990, in accordance with article 49. https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
Council of Europe. The best interests of the child: a dialogue between theory and practice. Council of Europe 2016. https://rm.coe.int/1680657e56
Pope TM. The best interest standard for health care decision making: definition and defense. Am J Bioeth. 2018;8:36–8.
United Kingdom public general acts. Mental Capacity Act 2005. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/contents
Downar J, You JJ, Bagshaw SM, et al. Nonbeneficial treatment in Canada. Crit Care Med. 2015;43:270–81.
Sprung CL, Eidelman LA, Steinberg A. Is the physician's duty to the individual patient or to society? Crit Care Med. 1995;23:618–20.
Ely EW, Azoulay E, Sprung CL. Eight things we would never do regarding end-of-life care in the ICU. Intensive Care Med. 2019;45:1116–8.
Carlet J, Thijs LG, Antonelli M, et al. Challenges in end-of-life care in the ICU. Statement of the 5th international consensus conference in critical care: Brussels. Intensive Care Med. 2003;30:770–84.
Bosslet GT, Pope TM, Rubenfeld GD, et al. An official ATS/AACN/ACCP/ESICM/SCCM policy statement: responding to requests for potentially inappropriate treatments in intensive care units. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;191:1318–30.
Pope TM. Legal fundamentals of surrogate decision making. Chest. 2012;141:1074–81.
Duttge G. Notvertretungsrecht in der Intensivmedizin. Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2022;147:1464–8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van Dam, M., Kesecioglu, J., Duttge, G., Ely, E.W., Sprung, C.L., Milliken, A.B. (2023). Clinical Ethics and the Law. In: Michalsen, A., Sadovnikoff, N., Kesecioglu, J. (eds) Ethics in Intensive Care Medicine. Lessons from the ICU. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29390-0_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29390-0_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-29389-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-29390-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)