1. Introduction, Sara Fovargue and Alexandra Mullock 2. Transforming wrong into right: What is "proper medical treatment"?, Margaret Brazier and Sara Fovargue 3. What do we mean by "proper" medical treatment?, Lucy Frith 4. Papist potions and electric sex: A historical perspective on "proper medical treatment", Barry Lyons 5. Moralising medicine: "Proper medical treatment" and the role of ethics and law in medical decision-making, José Miola 6. Family perspectives on proper medical treatment for people in prolonged vegetative and minimally conscious states, Celia Kitzinger and Jenny Kitzinger 7. The medical exception and cosmetic surgery: Culpable doctors and harmful enhancement?, Danielle Griffiths and Alexandra Mullock 8. Locating lawful abortion on the spectrum of "proper medical treatment", Mary Neal 9. Death on demand: Proper medical treatment?, Richard Huxtable 10. Doctors orders? Analysing appropriate medical treatment in mental health law, Judy Laing 11. The economics of "proper medical treatment", Cam Donaldson, Rachel Baker and Neil McHugh 12. Rationing, resource allocation, and appropriate medical treatment, Keith Syrett 13. Comments and reflections on "proper medical treatment": A case for coherent inconsistency, John Coggon

Sara Fovargue is Reader in Law, at Lancester University, and Co-Director of the Lancaster Centre for Bioethics and Medical Law.

Alexandra Mullock is a Lecturer in Medical Law at the University of Manchester, and a member of the Centre for Social Ethics and Policy at the University.

Whenever the legitimacy of a new or ethically contentious medical intervention is considered, a range of influences will determine whether the treatment becomes accepted as lawful medical treatment. The development and introduction of abortion, organ donation, gender reassignment, and non-therapeutic cosmetic surgery have, for example, all raised ethical, legal, and clinical issues. This book examines the various factors that legitimatise a medical procedure.
Bringing together a range of internationally and nationally recognised academics from law, philosophy, medicine, health, economics, and sociology, the book explores the notion of a treatment, practice, or procedure being proper medical treatment, and considers the range of diverse factors which might influence the acceptance of a particular procedure as appropriate in the medical context. Contributors address such issues as clinical judgement and professional autonomy, the role of public interest, and the influence of resource allocation in decision-making.
Chapter 6 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 3.0 license.