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Law School academics published in Medical Law Review

7 December 2017

The Medical Law Review, a journal of international research on topical issues in healthcare and law, has published articles by the University's Centre for Health and Society (CHLS) members Louise Austin and Peter Dunne.

Peter Dunne, Lecturer in Law, has an article out in the most recent edition of the Medical Law Review. Titled ‘Transgender Sterilisation Requirements in Europe’, it addresses the continuation in twenty countries across the Council of Europe of sterilisation as a requirement for applicants who want their preferred gender formally acknowledged. The article explores the legal, social, medical, and moral rationales used as basis for the current transgender sterilisation laws in Europe, and ultimately argues for a need for a change in attitudes towards transgender parenting as well as to the conditions for legal recognition.

To read the full article please click here.

Louise Austin, PhD Candidate in Law and an Associate Teacher in Medical Law, has a case commentary on advance access: ‘Grimstone v Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust: (It’s Not) Hip To Be Square’. The article examines standards of disclosure of potential risks and informed consent to medical treatment in light of Grimstone v Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. In this case the old standard of disclosure (the doctor-focused Bolam standard) was used to determine liability for non-disclosure, despite the formation of a new standard favouring disclosure based on what is significant to patients. The article explores the decision and implications of using the Bolam standard rather than the new one that applied.

To read the full article please click here.

Further information

Louise Austin is a PhD Candidate in Law, Associate Teacher in Medical Law and the co-chair of the Institute of Medical Ethics Postgraduate Student Committee. Her research interests focus on the ethics, law and regulation of informed consent to medical treatment.

Peter Dunne is a lecturer in law, teaching in the areas of family law, European Union law and medical law. His research interests focus broadly on human rights, family law and comparative law, with a particular interest in gender, sexuality and law.

The Centre for Health, Law, and Society (CHLS) promotes cross-disciplinary and cross-sector perspectives on the impacts of law and governance on physical, mental and social wellbeing. Based within the University of Bristol Law School, the CHLS comprises leading scholars whose work focuses on wide-ranging practical areas from within and far beyond health care systems, including clinical medicine, reproductive care, mental health, social care, and public and global health.
For more information about the Centre and its members, projects and opportunities please visit the CHLS website.

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