The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Book review. The status of the family in law and bioethics: the genetic context

Book review. The status of the family in law and bioethics: the genetic context
Book review. The status of the family in law and bioethics: the genetic context
In The Status of the Family in Law and Bioethics Roy Gilbar addresses the topical and ethically difficult considerations surrounding the communication of both diagnostic and predictive genetic data to patients' family members. Focusing on the legal and ethical obligations of doctors and their patients, Gilbar analyses two familial tensions: between patients' interests in maintaining confidentiality and those of their relatives to be informed; and vice versa, where patients' interests lie in providing the information but their relatives' interests may lie in not being informed. An illustrative example of the latter is when a patient has been informed that they have an incurable genetically inherited condition (for example Huntington's disease) and may wish to disclose this to their relatives in order to discuss the diagnosis and gain vital support at a difficult time. However, this disclosure carries a concurrent risk of harm to the relatives (increased anxiety and so on), which has led commentators to debate whether there ought to be a legal right not to know.1 Adopting a liberal–communitarian framework for this analysis, he examines English (or my preferred phrase, Anglo–Welsh) medical law and ethics pertaining to these familial tensions. Consequently, there is a specific focus on the duty of care in tort law and the law of confidentiality; and with regard to ethics, a consideration of bioethical commentaries, professional guidelines and ethical codes. Comprising 270 pages, Gilbar's book is divided into six chapters which I will address in turn.
family, bioethics, genetic, confidentiality
1358-8184
269-274
Jones, Caroline
e39a554e-f70d-4f90-b0dc-efa252e7d41e
Jones, Caroline
e39a554e-f70d-4f90-b0dc-efa252e7d41e

Jones, Caroline (2007) Book review. The status of the family in law and bioethics: the genetic context. Child and Family Law Quarterly, 19 (2), 269-274.

Record type: Article

Abstract

In The Status of the Family in Law and Bioethics Roy Gilbar addresses the topical and ethically difficult considerations surrounding the communication of both diagnostic and predictive genetic data to patients' family members. Focusing on the legal and ethical obligations of doctors and their patients, Gilbar analyses two familial tensions: between patients' interests in maintaining confidentiality and those of their relatives to be informed; and vice versa, where patients' interests lie in providing the information but their relatives' interests may lie in not being informed. An illustrative example of the latter is when a patient has been informed that they have an incurable genetically inherited condition (for example Huntington's disease) and may wish to disclose this to their relatives in order to discuss the diagnosis and gain vital support at a difficult time. However, this disclosure carries a concurrent risk of harm to the relatives (increased anxiety and so on), which has led commentators to debate whether there ought to be a legal right not to know.1 Adopting a liberal–communitarian framework for this analysis, he examines English (or my preferred phrase, Anglo–Welsh) medical law and ethics pertaining to these familial tensions. Consequently, there is a specific focus on the duty of care in tort law and the law of confidentiality; and with regard to ethics, a consideration of bioethical commentaries, professional guidelines and ethical codes. Comprising 270 pages, Gilbar's book is divided into six chapters which I will address in turn.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: June 2007
Keywords: family, bioethics, genetic, confidentiality

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 73557
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/73557
ISSN: 1358-8184
PURE UUID: 80113053-21dd-4831-bb34-08641c2a3f9d

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 16 Mar 2010
Last modified: 10 Dec 2021 16:49

Export record

Contributors

Author: Caroline Jones

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×