MacFarlane brings together the law as it relates to health law and medico-legal issues. The focus is on the case law and statutory provisions which regulate the relationship between the health care provider and the patient/client. There are extensive extracts to support the commentary and the coverage takes in all Australian jurisdictions as well as New Zealand.

The wide variety of topics in the book have been expanded in this edition to give much fuller reference to New Zealand and to cover (in a new chapter) professionalism, ethics, and complaints.

Students of health law in the nursing and health administration areas will find the book as relevant as students studying health law as part of a law degree.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: An introduction to the Australian legal system
CHAPTER 2: The regulation of health care in Australia
CHAPTER 3: The corporate nature of health care delivery
CHAPTER 4: Consent to treatment
CHAPTER 5: Negligence
CHAPTER 6: Records and confidentiality
CHAPTER 7: The impact of the criminal law
CHAPTER 8: Organ and tissue transplantation
CHAPTER 9: Provisions relating to drugs and poisons
CHAPTER 10: Professionalism, ethics and complaints

Table of Cases
Table of Statutes
Index

The chapter on negligence is of particular value... The extent of the duty fully to warn a patient of all the possible consequences of a particular treatment is examined in depth.

It is not possible to mention all the matters of topical interest referred to, but a few examples may be quoted: whether there is a duty to assist a stranger in need of assistance (rescue); badly written prescriptions; access to patients' records; organ and tissue transplants; advertising guidelines; the liability of a hospital for claims arising from operations carried out at that hospital....

It is clear that this book is primarily written for students; but, in view of the present increase in litigation against doctors and hospitals, it will also be found to be useful and instructive to practitioners, doctors and hospital administrators."

-- Law Society of Tasmania Newsletter, November 2000