Medical Law :In our view, therefore, medical law is a subset of human rights law - Essay Example

This separate existence of medical ethics has quite often been challenged by various activists of the international human rights body, which claim that the ethics are rather vague in nature and needed clarifications that would help to delineate and distinguish between the legal and moral entities of a situation where they tend to come into direct confrontation. It was for this reason that the World Medical Association was formed in 1967 in Belgium, with the express aim of: “Medical ethics right from the time of if its inception, has played a strong role that has been educational, and inspirational, while also being disciplinary in nature.

This is perceived in both its form of existences, in the traditional medical oaths, and in the more modern role of medical laws and guidelines prepared by the various medical associations and committees. “Contemporary medical ethics is conceptually enriched by influential texts and academic articles summarizing and categorizing its core professional virtues and principles”2. However in modern times, it has been noticed that medical ethics and human rights tend to converge into one another, and this is clear in the declaration of Venice where it is very clearly stated by the WMA that “a physician shall respect the rights of patients”.

After the Human Acts Rights of 1998 were fully incorporated into the UK law, it became clear that under the new legislations there were not many changes to be seen within the medical field, as most of decisions taken by physicians under the modern day medial ethics and laws fell within the scope of the Human Rights Laws, under the various acts pertaining to dignity, communications, and consultation. Thus majority of the decisions as to how a doctor should act under certain circumstances were taken by the judges that based their rulings on human