Medical law review
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Of the many adverse outcomes that may result from the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, known as COVID-19, one stands out as particularly vile: the experience of dying alone. Many healthcare facilities in the US and elsewhere adopted 'No-Visitor Rules' in an effort to contain the virus, but these rules mean that the countless people in nursing homes and hospital wards were isolated during their final hours of life. There is no epidemiological or US federal or state requirement to prohibit visitation to (and thereby isolate) dying patients-even those with COVID-19. ⋯ As a result, the policies may be overly restrictive and actively cause harm. This article argues that US hospital visitation policies need to be democratised to include the perspectives of community members and patients. By drawing on existing patient rights frameworks, this article outlines several legal strategies to reconceptualise hospital visitation policies as a civil rights issue.
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Disabled people may be disproportionately impacted by the response to the COVID-19 outbreak because of the kinds of countermeasures needed to tackle it, and serious disruptions to the services on which they rely. There are reports from the disability community in England and elsewhere that measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 impact negatively on their human rights and experiences. This commentary focuses on the healthcare and social care systems in England and describes how laws and practices have changed under the COVID-19 pandemic, and how these changes affect the rights of disabled people.
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There is an inherent tension between critical care research and data protection. Because of their condition it is not possible to ask for the patients' informed consent to be enrolled in observational research at the point of admission to the hospital. Often this is not possible at a later moment either. ⋯ We compared existing national privacy legislation from the perspective of critical care research and found great variation. Although this may not impede the collection of emergency and critical care research with data without prior informed consent in countries which are more responsive to such research, it might be a challenge to exchange such data from the national nodes in European wide research collaboration. We make a case that countries which are not responsive to such research should adapt their legislation in the interests of future critical care patients.
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The declaration in 2009 that the H1N1 pandemic constituted a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) was the first such declaration under the revised International Health Regulations that were adopted in 2005. In the period since then PHEIC have been declared in relation to polio, Ebola, and Zika. This article evaluates initiatives that have been introduced globally, within the Asia-Pacific region, and within Australia, to strengthen preparedness for public health emergencies. Through analysis of evolving conceptualisations of risk, surveillance of zoonotic diseases, and development of public health capacities, the article argues that to date the global community has failed to make the necessary investments in health system strengthening, and that without these investments, global public health emergencies will continue to be an ongoing challenge.
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A recent Law Commission Review emphasised that medical fitness to practise panels (also called medical practitioners tribunals) are an important legal mechanism for ensuring that public trust in medical regulation is maintained when a complaint is made against a doctor. This article examines trends over time in panel outcomes to identify their effectiveness in ensuring public protection. ⋯ It is argued that these trends are congruent with the broader adoption of a risk-based approach to professional regulation. Legal reforms to maintain public trust must ensure that the shift towards risk-averse forms of professional accountability do not sacrifice public safety and due process for the sake of political pragmatic exigency.