Course Requirements: Professor: Kristy Williams

Transcription

1 Foundational Issues in Health Law: Patient, Provider, Society and the Law Law 5397 Williams Spring, 2015 Syllabus (version date) Professor: Kristy Williams Course Description: This three- credit course introduces students to basic legal and theoretical concepts related to the study of health law. Major topics include bioethical theories and their relevance to the law, medical malpractice, and the role of the courts in defining and applying standards of care. We will cover an array of interesting and challenging issues over the course of the semester, including the meaning of health, the nature of the physician- patient relationship, public health, organ transplantation, reproductive technologies, and end- of- life care. This class has a heavy discussion component and students are expected to come to class prepared to engage in an in- depth conversation about the assigned material. To that end, students enrolled in this course will become well- versed in the theory underlying the law and policy we study, as well as the black letter law. Textbook: Mark A. Hall, Mary Anne Bobinski & David Orentlicher, HEALTH CARE LAW AND ETHICS (8 th ed. 2013) Class Hours: 7:30p- 9:00p MW Office Hours: I will hold office hours on Wednesdays from 6:30p- 7:30p and by appointment. You may also me your questions. Course Requirements: Attendance: You are expected to attend all class sessions, and must comply with the Law Center s overall attendance policy, which allows no more than five absences in a 14- week twice- a- week course. Your compliance with that policy is an absolute requirement that professors have no discretion to alter or waive. However, I will work with you to help ensure continuity of your learning should you be forced to miss a class or two for a bona fide work- related, health or other pressing necessity. Class Participation: Preparation and active pareticipation will be expected. You will be called on and you will be asked to prepare and present comments on aspects of the class material. At my discretion, students with outstanding in- class participation will be eligible for an upward adjustment of a partial letter grade (e.g. from B to B+, or from B+ to A- ). Examination and Grading: The course grade will be based on a final examination. The three- hour exam, will consist of a combination of issue- spotting and policy questions. During the exam you may consult three things: (1) your casebook, (2) any printed additional course reading, and (3) your outline and notes. Commercial reviews or notes prepared by other students and used solely for exam purposes will not be permitted. More details regarding the exam format and content will be discussed at the exam date approaches.

2 Course Outline and Reading List I. Introduction: The Nature of Medical Practice II. The Treatment Relationship A. Who must be treated a. Duty to Provide Care b. Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) c. Wrongful Reasons to Reject Patients i. Discrimination on the basis of disability B. Formation & Termination of the Treatment Relationship C. Elements of the Treatment Relationship a. Fiduciary Nature b. Confidentiality i. History of Confidentiality ii. HIPPA D. Informed Consent a. Treatment b. Experimentation & Research E. Medical Malpractice: a. Standards of Care b. Defenses c. Damages III. Issues in Bioethics A. End of Life a. Refusal of Life Sustaining Treatment b. Advance Planning c. Physician Aid in Dying d. Futility B. Organ Transplantation C. Reproductive Technologies IV. Public Health Readings: These reading assignments are subject to change based on the pace of our discussion. I will announce any changes in class and on Blackboard. Wednesday January 21 st : - Introduction: The Nature of Medical Practice, CB 1-10, 14, 15-18, Monday January 26 th - Who must be treated: The Duty to Provide Care, CB , (notes 1-5 only), (notes 2-3 only) Wednesday January 28 th - Who must be treated (contd) o EMTALA, CB , CB notes 2 and 3, CB 126 note 6 o Discussion Problem, Mrs. Miller to be provided

3 Monday February 2 nd - Who must be treated (contd) o Wrongful Reasons to Reject Patients, CB , o Discrimination on the Basis of Disability CB o Pauline Chen, Disability & Discrimination at the Doctor s Office, N.Y. Times available at and- discrimination- at- the- doctors- office/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Wednesday February 4 th - Formation and Termination of the Treatment Relationship o The Contract Between Patient and Physician (Furrow Health Law, Cases, Materials and Problems 6 th Ed, p 201 handout/ blackboard) o Formation, CB , 150 note 2, 152 note 3 o Termination, CB , notes 2-4 Monday February 9 - Elements of the Physician- Patient Relationship o Fiduciary Nature, CB o Confidentiality, CB , and note 5 on CB 178-9, Wednesday February 11 th - Confidentiality continued o Duty to Breach Confidentiality, CB Discussion Problems, CB 195 Monday February 16 th - Informed Consent for Treatment, CB , , - Discussion Problem, CB 224 Wednesday February 18 - Informed Consent for Treatment cont d, CB Discussion Problem, Disclosing Physician Risks (to be handed out) Monday February 23 rd - Informed Consent to Research, CB Wednesday February 25 th - Informed Consent to Research cont d, o Proposed Changes to the Common Rule, Handout o Discussion Problem, DNA Research and Indigenous Communities, CB Cord Blood Donation: is it treatment or research for the purposes of informed consent? (class discussion)

4 Monday March 2 nd - Medical Malpractice, CB 279 o Overview of Medical Error! Gawande Article, CB ! CB Notes, 1, 4-7! Baker Article, CB 292-3,! CB, Note 4! Mello, Kelly & Brennan CB Wednesday March 4 th - Medical Malpractice: Standard of Care o Custom Based Standard of Care, CB o Variations in the Standard of Care, CB o Economic Considerations, CB Monday March 9 th - Medical Malpractice, cont d o Other Methods of Proving Negligence CB , Note 1 - Discussion Problem, To Test or Not to Test, CB Alternative Theories of Liability, CB , , Wednesday March 11 th - Medical Malpractice: Defenses o Statutes of Limitations: CB o Affirmative Defenses: CB No class March 16 th or 18 th (spring break) Monday March 23 rd - Medical Malpractice: Damages, CB Wednesday March 25 th - End- of- Life Issues: Refusal of Life- Sustaining Treatment, CB o The Incompetent Patient, CB o decision making for children, CB Monday March 30 th - End- of- Life Issues: Advance Planning, CB o Texas Advanced Directives Act, Texas Health and Safety Code, Ch 166 o Effect of TADA on Pregnant Women//article on Munoz Case//

5 Wednesday April 1 st - End- of- Life Issues: Physician Aid in Dying, CB o Organ Death With Dignity Act, CB note 2! Nicole Weisensee Egan, TERMINALLY ILL WOMAN BRITTANY MAYNARD HAS ENDED HER OWN LIFE, PEOPLE.COM, available at maynard- died- terminal- brain- cancer o Washington & Vermont Legislation o Baxter v. Montana, 2009 WL (Mont. 2009) o Other Countries, Note 15, CB Discussion Problem, Is It Aid in Dying or Withdrawal of Treatment?, CB 626 Monday April 6 th - End- of- Life Issues: Futility, CB , Notes 1, 2, 7, 8 o Brain Death, CB o Howard Brody, Death is death: A Judge s Error (handout) Wednesday April 8 th - End- of- Life Issues: Organ Transplantation, CB o Organ Donors, CB o Defining Death for Donation, CB , o Ownership and Control of the Body, CB Monday April 13 th - Organ Transplantation cont d o Financial Incentives for Organ Donation, CB o Allocation of Organs, CB Wednesday April 15 th - Reproductive Technologies, CB , o Gamete Donation, CB , o IVF and Frozen Embryos, CB o New technology: 3 parent IVF (handout) o New technology: uterine transplant (handout) Monday April 20 th - Reproductive Technologies cont d o Surrogacy, CB o Nour Shatleh, What is a mother, Health Law Perspectives, available at 20Mother.pdf o Texas Family Code

6 Wednesday April 22 nd - Public Health Law, CB o Public Health Strategies, CB o Risk Assessment and Regulatory Compliance, CB o Source and Authority to Protect Public Health, CB o Discussion Problem, Bioterrorism and Smallpox Vaccination 912 Monday April 27 th - Public Health Law cont d, Regulating Medical Treatment to Protect Public Health: o Testing Programs, CB o Tracing Programs, Wednesday April 29 th - Public Health Law cont d, o Isolation and Quarantine, CB o Civil Commitment and Mandatory Treatment, CB Monday May 4 th - review