Principles & Practice of Medical Law & Ethics by Uwakwe Abugu

Principles & Practice of Medical Law & Ethics by Uwakwe Abugu :-

Presents its readers with a unique message: the fundamental right to life guaranteed in the Nigerian Constitution is, inextricably, tied to medical and health rights. As such, it is impossible to enjoy the one without the consciousness to assert and enforce the other.

In Nigeria, the numbers of people who lose their lives under avoidable circumstances in hospitals appear to be higher than those who die through other means like accidents and natural causes. To worsen the situation, the degree of ignorance of Nigerians of their medical and health rights is so high that it pervades every strata of society. In this regard, the educated citizens appear to be as ignorant as their uneducated counterparts. This, perhaps, explains why the idea of making claims against medical doctors sounds utopian and outlandish to both. Pitiably, even among the few who are aware of their rights, cultural/religious beliefs and economic hardships have remained veritable disincentives to filing claims against hospitals and their doctors.

This book has, therefore, come as a welcome intervention in the desperate need to bridge the yawning gap between us and the developed world on the knowledge and enforcement of medical and health rights. It presents Medical Law and Ethics from the elementary to the advanced frontiers. In this regard, it sets out the meaning, history, and general principles of Medical Law and Ethics. The rights and duties of doctors and their patients; the professional discipline of medical practitioners; types of medical malpractices and legal liabilities for such malpractices are, masterfully, dealt with in eloquent and appetizing prose. It, also, discusses in detail many other convenient, fast, and cost-effective methods of enforcing patients’ rights than resorting to litigation.

Accordingly, the book recommends itself to all of us, the educated, the not-so-educated, legal practitioners, school teachers, and academics. Judges, civil servants, professionals, and even traders. The reason is not far to seek – in the final analysis, each of us is either a patient or a potential patient.

In this book, Uwakwe Abugu presents our rights to be treated with care and skills; to be part of all medical decisions and even the right to terminate the relationship or to challenge the action or inaction of our doctors or hospitals in a very simple, lucid and flowing prose.

Professor Uwakwe Abugu is a Professor of Medical Law and Ethics, Faculty of Law, University of Abuja, Nigeria. He is the Founder and National President of the Medical Law Professionals Association of Nigeria (MELPAN) and the Institute of Medical and Health Law. He is also the President of Lifeline Centre for Medical and Health Rights Advocacy(LICMERA), a Non-Governmental Organization committed to creating awareness, legal and policy reforms, advocacy, best practice, and enforcement of medical and health rights of all persons.

He has consistently taught and researched Medical and Health Law since 1998, first at the Facility of Law, the University of Ilorin, and then at, the Faculty of Law University of Abuja from the year 2005. He consults for the National Assembly, Non-Governmental Organizations, and MDAs on legislative and policy reforms on national and international health security.