The spanner trials and the changing law on sadomasochism in the UK.

A Spanner in the Works? Anti-Politics in Global Health Policy; Comment on “A Ghost in the Machine? Politics in Global Health Policy”

The formulation of global health policy is political; and all institutions operating in the global health landscape are political. This is because policies and institutions inevitably represent certain values, reflect particular ideologies, and preferentially serve some interests over others. This may be expressed explicitly and consciously; or implicitly and unconsciously. But it’s important t...

Preventive Strategies for Damages Induced by Reconstructive Plastic Surgeries within Laws of UK and Iran

The progress of medical knowledge on one hand and social necessities as well as spiritual needs on the other hand are among the elements affecting the increasing tendency to plastic surgery in different societies. Due to special properties of this type of medical operations in the area of aesthetic and reconstructive surgeries, there are social and legal issues together with numerous mental and...

Providing Safe and Effective Surgical Care During the COVID-19 Outbreak in the UK – Changing Strategies

Morality and Values in Support of Universal Healthcare Must be Enshrined in Law; Comment on “Morality and Markets in the NHS”

This is a commentary on Gilbert and colleagues’ (1) paper on morality and markets in the National Health Service (NHS). Morality and values are not ephemeral qualities and universal healthcare is not simply an aspiration; it has to be enshrined in law. The creation of the UK NHS in 1948 was underpinned by core legal duties which required a system of public funding and delivery to follow. The mo...

Innovative Use of the Law to Address Complex Global Health Problems; Comment on “The Legal Strength of International Health Instruments - What It Brings to Global Health Governance?”

Addressing the increasingly globalised determinants of many important problems affecting human health is a complex task requiring collective action. We suggest that part of the solution to addressing intractable global health issues indeed lies with the role of new legal instruments in the form of globally binding treaties, as described in the recent article of Nikogosian and Kickbusch. However...