Best interests: what problems in family law should health care law avoid?
This article comments briefly on three specific issues in Shazia Choudhry's paper "'Best Interests' What can healthcare law learn from family law?" The three issues are: (1) the implications of 'best interests' and 'welfare science' for women within the family law and the health care law context, (2) the risk of capture by the 'welfare science' industry, and (3) the proposal that a committee of medical experts and medical ethicists should be set up to provide reports to the Court of Protection on cases brought under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). I argue that the risk of capture by 'welfare science' is equally large in health care law and that a committee of the kind envisaged by Choudhry is unlikely to contribute significantly to conflict resolution under the MCA.
Holm
Søren
S
Cardiff Law School, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK. holms@cardiff.ac.uk
D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics*; D004739:England; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008297:Male; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*