Relating to aspects of medicine and law that overlap. Among the matters on which medicolegal experts advise are the laws concerning damages for injuries due to medical negligence or malpractice, evidence concerning the extent of injury in a civil action, the use of paternity tests, the mental competence of people who have drawn up wills, and restrictions on the mentally ill. Medicolegal issues also include an individual’s right to die (see brain death; euthanasia; living will); the necessity for informed consent to any surgical procedure; the legal aspects of artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, sterilization, and surrogacy; and a patient’s right to confidentiality concerning his or her illness. (For the medical aspects of criminal law, see forensic medicine.)
Medicolegal |
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