The majority of doctors and nurses involved in specialist palliative care reject the legalisation of physician assisted suicide (PAS). This book explores the reasons why the healthcare professionals who have the most experience of caring for dying patients should object to a change in the law. Debate about euthanasia and PAS often arises in response to a well publicised tragic case of unrelieved suffering. Such heart rending stories do not reflect the fact that the majority of people dying have a dignified death. There is a marked disparity between medical intuitions and the philosophers' arguments about euthanasia and PAS. It seems that part of the moral constitution of a doctor is a commitment not to intend the death of a patient and to protect them from harm. The perspective of those who are privileged to care for thousands of dying patients and their families should inform the debate about PAS.This book will enable those who are not working within palliative care to gain an insight into the scope of this speciality and to understand why legalisation of PAS should be resisted to maintain and improve care of dying patients.

In this introductory text, the author presents the law relating to child care and the reforms introduced by the Children Act 1989, assessing its impact on child care practice and procedures. Focusing on a practical interpretation of the law by the use of hypothetical examples, practice notes and recommendations, the book illustrates its relevance to those working in the caring and health professions, and incorporates details of various sets of Guidance and Regualtions issued by the Department of Health. In addition it provides an outline of adoption law, the principles of consent to treatment and the effect of surrogacy and "assisted reproduction" on the legal definition of parenthood.