Description
Book SynopsisThis book addresses the issues and challenges raised by the high-profile cases of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans. The individual chapters, which complement one other, were written by scholars with expertise in Law, Medicine, Medical Ethics, Theology, Health Policy and Management, English Literature, Nursing and History, from the UK, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Spain, Turkey and the USA.
The following are among the key questions explored in the book. Is the courtroom an appropriate forum for resolving conflicts relating to medical futility in paediatrics? If so, should parental rights be protected by confining judicial powers only to cases where there is a risk of significant harm to the infant; or should the "best interests" test continue to be recognised as the "gold standard" for paediatric cases? If not, should mediation be used instead, but how well would this alternative method of dispute resolution work for medical futility conflicts? Further, should social media be deployed to garner support, and should outsiders who are not fully acquainted with the medical facts refrain from intervening? And, how are comparable situations likely to be managed in different countries? What lessons can be learned from them as well as from religious perspectives?
Table of Contents
- Foreword by Michael Redfern QC
- Preface by Kartina Aisha Choong
- Notes on Contributors
- INTRODUCTION. Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans: Their Medico-Legal Journeys, by Kartina A. Choong
- PART I. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
- CHAPTER 1. The Vexed Question of Best Interests in Decisions Relating to Infants and Medical Futility, by Jo Samanta
- CHAPTER 2. Best Interests: The "Gold Standard" or a Gold Plating? Should Significant Harm be a Threshold Criterion in Paediatric Cases? by William Seagrim
- CHAPTER 3. Charlie's Law: Clarifying the Legal Standard to be Used in Medical Decision-Making for Children, by Sarah Sargent
- CHAPTER 4. Media Framing of "Medical Futility": Flaming the Debate?, by Kim McGuire
- CHAPTER 5. Resource-intense Treatments in a Resource-finite Environment, by Richard Wai Ming Law
- CHAPTER 6. Citizenship at the Discretion of the State: Public Law Issues Regarding Evans' Naturalisation, by Alejandra Boto
- CHAPTER 7. Contested Paediatric Palliative Care: A Church of England Perspective, by Brendan McCarthy
- CHAPTER 8. The Dynamics of Clinical Judgment, Religious Conventions and Parental Responsibilities: An Islamic Perspective, by Mahmood Chandia, Abdulla al-Shami
- CHAPTER 9. Do Parents Have a Right to Determine Where a Child Patient Dies?, by Lisa Cherkassky
- PART II. INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
- CHAPTER 10. Serving the Child's "Best Interests" in Australia, by Roslyn Jones
- CHAPTER 11. Medical Futility in Czech Paediatrics: At the Edge of Law, Bioethics, and Medicine, by Helena Krej?íková
- CHAPTER 12. The Application of End-of-Life Legislation to Minors in France, by Stephanie Rohlfing-Dijoux
- CHAPTER 13. Patient Autonomy and Best Interests in End-of-Life Cases: A German Perspective, by Peter Elsner
- CHAPTER 14. Gard and Evans: A Reflection on What Might Happen in India, by Abhay Vaidya, Sourabhi Sahakari
- CHAPTER 15. Medical Futility and Parental Paternalism in Turkey, by Banu Buruk, Berna Arda
- CHAPTER 16. If We Can, Must We? Just Whose Best Interests Are We Talking About? Perspectives from the USA, by Vincent F. Maher
