Overview of "Health Law in Australia" by Benjamin Peter White, Fiona J. McDonald, and Lindy Willmott

Key Themes

1. Comprehensive National Coverage: The book provides a comprehensive national overview of health law in Australia, covering all major areas of the discipline.
2. Health Law Expertise: It includes contributions from 28 health law experts from 13 universities, making it a leading text in the field.
3. Structured Approach: The book takes a logical and structured approach to explain the breadth of health law across all Australian jurisdictions.
4. Contemporary Issues: It addresses contemporary issues in health law, including new technologies, changing legislation, and evolving community expectations.

Plot Summary

The book "Health Law in Australia" is designed to enhance the understanding of health law as a whole. It covers a wide range of topics, including:

• Human Rights Issues: The book delves into human rights issues in the context of health law, ensuring that the rights of patients are protected.
• Ethico-Legal Issues: It explores ethico-legal issues in health care, focusing on the ethical dilemmas that healthcare professionals face.
• Global Health Issues: The book discusses global health issues, including public health policies and health tourism.
• Consent Issues: It examines consent issues, including informed consent and refusal of treatment for seriously ill minors.
• Privacy and Confidentiality Issues: The book addresses privacy and confidentiality issues, ensuring that patient information is protected.
• Reproductive Technology Issues: It covers reproductive technology issues, including biobanking and embryo research.
• Health Research Issues: The book discusses health research issues, including regulation of unregistered health professions and research misconduct.
• Death and Dying Issues: It explores death and dying issues, including assisted dying/euthanasia law.
• Legal Liability Issues: The book examines legal liability issues, including medical negligence and compensability.
• Reform and Regulatory Issues: It discusses reform and regulatory issues, focusing on the regulatory framework for deciding whether potentially life-sustaining treatment should be withheld or withdrawn.

Critical Reception

While specific reviews are not provided in the search results, the book's reputation as a leading text in health law suggests positive reception from the academic community. The inclusion of contributions from multiple experts and its comprehensive coverage of health law issues indicate that it is a valuable resource for both students and practitioners in the field.

Editions

The book has been published in several editions, with the fourth edition being the most recent. The fourth edition continues to be Australia's leading text in health law, maintaining its comprehensive national coverage and structured approach to explaining the breadth of health law across all Australian jurisdictions.