Health Law and Emerging Technologies (LAWS70421)

This subject will examine ways in which law is affecting, and being affected by, the latest advances in medical technology. It will cover genetic, big data, regenerative, pharmaceutical and reproductive technologies. See below for examples of some of the pressing concerns facing health service providers, government agencies, other regulatory bodies, academics in many fields and, more broadly, society.

• Genetic technology and personalised medicine
  • Does/should the law criminalise inheritable gene-editing?
  • Who is/should be liable when genetic analysis goes wrong?
  • Can/should genetic information be shared with relatives?
• Big data
  • Do companies like Google have too much access to patients’ personal health data?
  • Are biobanks and genomic repositories appropriately regulated?
• Regenerative medicine
  • Does/should the law allow stem cell research with embryos?
  • Should we allow face and womb transplants?
  • Why doesn’t the law allow you to buy a kidney to save your life?
• Reproductive medicine
  • Does the law sufficiently regulate IVF providers?
  • For which medical conditions is/should pre-natal diagnosis be allowed?
• Pharmaceuticals
  • Does the law appropriately regulate clinical trials and marketing of new drugs?
  • Does the law provide sufficient and appropriate intellectual property incentives for the discovery of new drugs?

Discussion will weave specific case studies with larger, cross-cutting themes that apply generally to the legal regulation of emerging technologies. Discussion will not be limited to any particular jurisdiction but will draw widely on world events.

The subject will be taught by Dr Kathleen Liddell, Director of the Centre for Law, Medicine and Life Sciences (Cambridge), who has more than 20 years’ experience in academia, legal practice, law reform, policy advice and ethical analysis.

This subject provides a critical examination of a range of new developments in medicine and science. In particular, it examines ways in which law is affecting, and being affected by, new technologies such as genetic, big data, regenerative, pharmaceutical, and reproductive technologies. Students will choose a topic for focused research and writing, and in class we will discuss legal issues and law reform relating to:

• gene-editing, cryogenics and other emerging scientific techniques
• pharmaceutical research, incentives and getting new drugs to market
• assisted reproduction and pre-natal diagnosis
• large commercial companies accessing big health data
• genetic technology and personalised medicine
• regenerative medicine: organ transplants and human stem cell research
• other topical issues that arise later and while the subject is being taught.

The following cross-cutting themes will be discussed in class and may form a central theme in students’ dissertations:

• Balancing autonomy, best interests and the public interest
• Limits of informed consent as a regulatory device
• Other recurrent ethical and social issues
• ‘Ladders’ of regulatory intervention
• Different policymaking cultures
• Legal incentives for emerging technologies
• Typical causes of action (property, tort, negligence, criminal law, statutory breaches).