With Jonathan Herring and Sally Sheldon, ‘Would decriminalisation of abortion mean deregulation?’ in Sally Sheldon (ed) What would it Mean to Decriminalise Abortion in the UK? The Evidence (Policy Press, 2020) 57-76 In addition to considering their own wellbeing, patients are often concerned about the impact of their condition and its treatment upon their dependants. 23 Patients are therefore making multi-faceted and challenging decisions, from a position of vulnerability, and in the context of a doctor–patient relationship where there may be a high level of trust, and even dependence. Indeed, this is why, as Purshouse has explained, invoking the metaphor of ‘patients as consumers’ in an informed consent case represents a departure from the more usual depiction of patients in clinical negligence cases as potentially, if not inherently vulnerable. 24 Medical Law : Text, Cases, and Materialsoffers all of the explanation, commentary, and extracts from cases and key materials that students need to gain a thorough understanding of this complex topic.

Jill Peay'An awkward fit: offenders with mental disabilities in a system of criminal justice' in M. Bosworth. C. Hoyle and L.Zedner (eds) (2016) Changing Contours of Criminal Justice: Research, Politics and Policy(Oxford: OUP, 2016) Briefly stated, consumers have less information than traders and so have difficulty in making decisions that reflect their true preferences. There are not sufficient incentives for traders to volunteer information, so the law needs to require that the information be provided. Once this information is provided, consumers can protect their own interests by selecting the goods or services closest to their preferences. Harm will be reduced by ensuring goods and services are more likely to be in line with realistic consumer expectations based on reliable information. Avoiding problems through the consumer taking responsibility for his or her own purchasing choices must be a desirable objective. 41 Extracts from a wide variety of academic materials ensure students acquire an overview of a range of different perspectivesUsing information disclosure as a consumer protection technique rests on the assumption that the average consumer has the capacity to process information and act on it, and that it is only atypical vulnerable consumers who need special protection. Yet, as Howells points out, ‘The truth is that we are all to some extent vulnerable, because of the limitations of the human mind.’ 50 Oren-Gill and Ben-Shahar explain that: Central Issues sections at the start of each chapter outline the key concepts covered, and further reading sections at the end provide guidance on further sources for research Review from previous edition This is the best text, cases and materials book on medical law around. It explains the law and ethical literature in an accessible manner while still being thorough. I cannot recommend it highly enough." - Dr Craig Purshouse, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Liverpool

First, the distinction between so-called ‘altruistic’ and ‘commercial’ gamete donation and surrogacy is increasingly unsustainable in law and policy. 19 Further, this division of practices is not experienced as meaningful by many participants in CBR, and is openly rejected by some.

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To inform a more nuanced approach to the provision and regulation of fertility treatment, we must attend to the subjective experience of risk, quality, and care in CBR, especially when this involves what Angela Campbell calls ‘morally ambiguous’ or even ‘ostensibly self-injurious’ choices. 20 In this article, we suggest that it is impossible to properly evaluate the role of law in CBR without attending to its impact upon participants’ lived experiences, and that, in the light of a dramatic mismatch between law’s goals and reproductive travellers’ experiences of law, there may be grounds for some form of realignment. II. ALTRUISTIC OR COMMERCIAL: AN UNTENABLE DISTINCTION? It is, of course, important to recognise that patients’ appetite for information, and their understanding of it varies considerably. Not only are there differences between patients, but the same patient’s preferences may vary over the course of her lifetime, and in response to different illnesses. Patients who suffer from chronic conditions may ‘become experts in their own conditions and sometimes know more than generalists (such as their GPs) about symptoms and management options’. 71 At the same time, as Arvind and McMahon point out, there is evidence from patient survey data that other patients may struggle to understand or retain the information that they receive as part of the informed consent process. 72 Information about risk is notoriously difficult to understand, 73 and the way in which information is framed can be critical: if patients are told that 90% of people are alive five years after having an operation, they are more likely to consent than if they are told that 10% are dead. 74 Also available as an e-book with functionality, navigation features, and links that offer extra learning support In the UK’s ‘altruistic only’ system, it is an offence for anyone other than the surrogate and the intended parents to negotiate a surrogacy arrangement ‘on a commercial basis’, and it is a criminal offence for intended parents, surrogates and agencies to advertise their willingness to participate in or facilitate surrogacy. As a result, as McFarlane J explained in Re G (Surrogacy: Foreign Domicile), 30 the role of facilitating surrogacy arrangements has traditionally been left to ‘groups of well-meaning amateurs’. If the mischief to which the ban on commercial involvement is directed is the prevention of exploitation, the evidence is by no means clear that this is best achieved by discouraging professional agencies’ involvement in surrogacy. On the contrary, as Natalie Gamble has explained: Coverage of the proposals set out in the Law Commissions' consultation on reform of the law on surrogacy