"Best interests" is widely accepted as the appropriate foundation principle for medico-legal decisions concerning treatment withdrawal from patients in persistent vegetative state (PVS). Its application appears to progress logically from earlier use regarding legally incompetent patients. This author argues, however, that such confidence in the relevance of the principle of best interests to PV...

Stephen Breyer, a judge of the US Supreme Court, wrote some fifteen years ago: »Scientific issues permeate the law (...). The law must seek decisions that fall within the boundaries of scientifically sound knowledge and approximately reflect the scientific state of the art (...). I believe that in this age of science we must build legal foundations that are sound in science as well as in law. S...

End-of-life decision-making is controversial. There are different views about when it is appropriate to limit life-sustaining treatment, and about what palliative options are permissible. One approach to decisions of this nature sees consensus as crucial. Decisions to limit treatment are made only if all or a majority of caregivers agree. We argue, however, that it is a mistake to require profe...

Individuals and companies file patent applications for a variety of reasons. Decisions as to which technological developments merit patent protection, the territories in which patent protection is sought, and the point in time at which a patent application is filed can be driven by many factors, including cost, legal considerations, the extent of supporting experimental data available, and abov...

In consumer-directed health care, patients will be expected to exert greater control over their spending decisions than before. As consumer-directed care gains market acceptance, courts will inevitably be involved in resolving challenges to the new arrangements. We anticipate that courts will be generally favorable toward consumer-directed care, but the new legal doctrine will not uniformly fav...

uccessful resuscitation attempts have brought xtended, useful and precious life to many, and appiness and relief to their relatives and loved nes. And yet, there are occasions when resuscitaion attempts have merely prolonged suffering and he process of dying. In few cases resuscitation has esulted in the ultimate tragedy—–the patient in a ersistent vegetative state. Resuscitation attempts re un...

Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions are made commonly in healthcare but can be a source of ethical concern and legal challenge. They differ from other healthcare decisions because they are made in anticipation of a future event and concern withholding, rather than giving, a treatment. DNACPR decisions were introduced to protect patients from invasive treatments that ...

BACKGROUND Ethically challenging critical events and decisions are common in nursing homes. This paper presents nursing home doctors' descriptions of how they include the patient and next of kin in end-of-life decisions. METHODS We performed ten focus groups with 30 nursing home doctors. Advance care planning; aspects of decisions on life-prolonging treatment, and conflict with next of kin we...

This introduction describes what the co-editors believe readers can expect in this Special Issue. After beliefs and expectancies are defined, examples of how these constructs influence human thought, feeling, and behavior in legal settings are considered. Brief synopses are provided for the Special Issue papers on beliefs and expectancies regarding alibis, children's testimony behavior, eyewitn...

Lender losses on mortgage loans arise from a two-stage process. In the first stage, the borrower stops making payments if and when default is optimal. The second stage is a lengthy and costly period during which the lender employs legal remedies to obtain possession and execute a sale of the collateral. This research uses data on subprime mortgage losses to explore the role of borrower and coll...