Medical Law in Canada, Second edition

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this convenient volume provides a comprehensive overview of the law relating to medical care in Canada. Cutting across the traditional compartments with which lawyers are familiar, this book on medical law is primarily focusing on legal and ethical issues that relate to the relationship between physicians and patients, with inevitable inroads as well in the broader field of health care law.

A general introduction first describes the broader political and health systems context of Canadian medical law and includes some unique challenges Canada faces, including health challenges faced by Indigenous people; and those resulting from an unprecedented opioid crisis, which is linked to the regulation of prescription practices. The book then systematically describes law related to the medical profession, proceeding from training, licensing, and other aspects of access to the profession, through disciplinary and professional liability and medical ethics considerations and quality assurance, to such aspects of the physician-patient relationship as rights and duties of physicians and patients, consent, privacy, and access to medical records. Also covered are specific issues such as organ transplants, human medical research, abortion, and ‘medical assistance in dying’ (euthanasia and assisted suicide), as well as matters dealing with the physician in relation to other health care providers, health care insurance, and the health care system.

Succinct and practical, this book will prove to be of great value to professional organizations of physicians, nurses, hospitals, and relevant government agencies. Lawyers representing parties with interests in Canada will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its comparative value as a contribution to the study of medical law in the international context.