Autonomy, Informed Consent and Medical Law: A Relational Challenge

Alasdair Maclean analyses the ethical basis for consent to medical treatment, providing both an extensive reconsideration of the ethical issues and a detailed examination of English law. Importantly, the analysis is given a context by situating consent at the centre of the healthcare professional-patient relationship.

This allows the development of a relational model that balances the agency of the two parties with their obligations that arise from that relationship. That relational model is then used to critique the current legal regulation of consent. To conclude, Alasdair Maclean considers the future development of the law and contrasts the model of relational consent with Neil Manson and Onora O’Neill’s recent proposal for a model of genuine consent.

• Each chapter may be read as an independent analysis, allowing the reader to read the book selectively
• Regular summaries of the arguments are provided, allowing the reader to refresh their understanding of the argument without having to reread the whole chapter
• The ethical arguments assume only a lay understanding of ethics, thus benefiting those readers who lack an expert understanding of the ethical issues