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