Electives - Human Biology, Ethics and Society

Medicine, Law and Ethics

Elective Number: (Oasis E16j) 3910

Rotation Supervisors: Patti Tereskerz, JD, PhD

Designated Signer: Carrie Gumm, 5th floor Barringer room 5364

Evaluation should be given to: Dr. Tereskerz

Available: Rotation 7b - Class of 2009

Duration: 2 weeks

Time to Report: 9:00 am

Place to Report: Barringer 5th Floor Conference Room Ctr for Biomedical Ethics

Attendance: Attendance at elective activities is mandatory.

• Anyone who is ill or has a personal or family emergency must contact Student Affairs and the Attending on Service.
• Students are allowed to take off up to 1 day per week to interview between November 1 and February 1.
  • Specific days missed must be approved by the Attending on Service.

Number of students per rotation: 20

Course Description: The purpose of this elective is to provide medical students with practical knowledge and understanding of ethical and legal issues that they will likely face in their medical practices. Students will learn how to recognize and analyze ethical concers and legal issues. This course will use the case book method of instruction so that students will be able to see how the legal principles and ethical theories are applied. It will be taught by interdisciplinary faculty from the law and medical schools as well as practicing attorneys. All speakers shown below have committed to teach the classes.

• Session 1 - Informed Consent and Medical Malpractice: Students will be instructed on the legal elecments of informed consent and negligence through an examination of medical malpractice liability cases. Students wil consider the ethical framework for informed consent and the ethical obligations physicians owe thier patients. There will also be practical discussion of what can be expected to happen in a law suit from pleadings to trial. Walter Davis, MD & Patti Tereskerz, JD
• Session 2 - Legal and Ethical Issues for Doctors Preparing for and Responding to a Public Health Emergency: This class will focus on how legal powers apply in public health emergencies and will consider the implications of legal responses taken in the face of a public health emergency. Donna Chen, MD & Ruth Gaare, JD
• Session 3 - Children Who are Ill and the Legal System: Students will be instructed in the ehtical and legal significance of age and consent to treatment as well as the legal requirements for capacity to consent to treatment. Ethical components of the physician/patient relationship in dealing with children and their families will be addressed. Walter Wadlington, LLB
• Session 4 - Mental Disorders and Vulnerability: This class will provide a broad overview of the legal issues associated with admission and discharge of mentally ill patients. Included in the discussion will be the legal standards for judging competency to consent to or to refuse treatment and surrogate decision making as well as rights of those confined in mental health facilities. Daniel Larrivere, MD, JD
• Session 5 - Privacy and Confidentiality: This class will provide an overview of statutory and regulatory frameworks for privacy of health information and an examination of case law. The seminar will offer a practical overview of HIPPA requirements. Beth Hodsdon, JD
• Session 6 - Physicians and their Relationship with the Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Industry: The objective of this class is to explore the conflicts of interests that may emerge when physicians collaborate with industry, and to discuss some of the less obvious legal pitfalls that may involve doctos who have conflicts of interest such as avoiding violation of insider trading laws, consumer protection statutes, and anti-kickback statutes. Patti Tereskerz, JD & Ann Mills, MBA
• Session 7 - Medical Research and Protection of Human Research Subjects: This class will focus on the ethical and legal tensions in conducting medical research on human volunteers through examination of cases and relevant regulations. Mimi Riley, JD and Walter Davis, MD
• Session 8 - Physicians and Employment Contracts: Students will be instructed on what constitutes a contract and will learn to identify issues related to various contractual terms such as, for example, covenants not to compete, "tail" coverage for medical malpractice insurance, and how disputes will be resolved. Students will be given a contract to review and together with the instructor will identify terms, loopholes and questionable ethical issues that should be addressed with various contractual arrangements. Terry Tereskerz, JD