This leading textbook places medical decision-making in its legal context and provides practical guidance on the most ethically challenging cases that face the courts. It explains how the Mental Capacity Act works in practice and how the courts and lawyers wrestle with and resolve problems relating to the very essence of life: what is life? what is an acceptable quality of life? what treatment is so burdensome that it should not be attempted? These questions are posed, not in the abstract but, in real - often desperate, often urgent - situations.

This is the essential guide for solicitors, barristers and judges specialising in Court of Protection work, clinical negligence, personal injury and human rights. Postgraduate medical ethics students and academics, NHS bodies and local authority professionals, health professionals and administrators in the NHS and private practice and those in Commonwealth countries with an interest in these topics will also find this book an invaluable resource.

Medical Treatment: Decisions and the Law offers a readily accessible text for those dealing with the provision of medical treatment to those without capacity and related areas, providing a clear description of procedure as well as practical application of the law.

Key developments for the Fourth Edition include:
· The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on decision making in the Court of Protection, particularly in relation to end of life decisions and vaccination
· New chapters on two controversial issues: "the Right to Die?" and "Access to Healthcare: Choice"
· Expanded chapter on Decisions for Children, covering recent high-profile cases such as Re Gard where continued provision of life sustaining treatment for babies or very young infants was at issue, and addressing the difficult issues around decision making by 16 to 17 year olds
· Substantially updated chapter on Going to Court, covering how the incapacitous patient can be supported to participate in decisions about their treatment
Discussion of "Escalation of Care" covering matters including NICE guidelines and care pathways and expanded coverage of issues concerning the funding of treatment.

This title is included in Bloomsbury Professional's Clinical Negligence online service.

Edited by Christopher Johnston KC and Sophia Roper KC, with chapters authored by a team of 27 barristers at Serjeants' Inn Chambers.
Christopher Johnston KC has 32 years of experience acting for top claimant and defendant medical law firms. Described by clients in the legal directories as 'outstanding', he combines the research and analytical skills of an academic lawyer with a user-friendly approach and the practical ability to apply complex legal principles to devise the correct tactics. His career highlights include XX v Whittington (recovery of surrogacy damages) in the Supreme Court, B v Croydon HA (feeding) in the Court of Appeal and the first case decided under the Human Rights Act, Re M (PVS).
Sophia Roper KC has a core practice in medical treatment and complex welfare cases in the Court of Protection and related Human Rights Act claims. She combines a wealth of practical experience with an academic focus on knotty points of law, being described by clients as 'the Encyclopaedia Britannica of CoP cases'. She acted in two seminal cases concerning children: Re Gard, Re Evans; and in the ground-breaking case on contingent declarations, GSTT v R.
The Serjeants' Inn team is ranked in the top tier for Court of Protection work by both independent legal directories and the chambers is described as 'a go-to set for Court of Protection matters [with] an excellent reputation for being the gold standard for complex CoP work with a medical aspect' (The Legal 500).