Wiser Than the Laws?: The Legal Accountability of The Medical Profession

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Abstract
This Article argues that many seemingly disparate questions in health law are related to the issue of how experts are to be held accountable to nonexperts—show the principle that decisions should be made by those most affected is to be reconciled with the principle that decisions should be made by those with experience and training in the area. The basic subject matter of health law comprises a number of relationships between medical professionals, on the one hand, and laymen, on the other. In dealing with the proper allocation of decision-making authority within these relationships, the Article considers the social role of medical profession, the theoretical issues in the accountability of expertise, and the nature of medical expertise. On the basis of this discussion, the Article develops principles that can be applied throughout health law.Whenever anyone appears to be investigating … medicine contrary to the written regulations, … any one of the citizens who wishes may indict him in court, on the ground that he … persuades young men to practice medicine in an illegal way, to practice on their own authority …. For no one ought to be wiser than the laws.Plato, The Statesman

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