In this chapter, we examine how (outwith the context of transplantation) English law regulates the removal, retention and uses of human body parts and we consider briefly how far (if at all) we own our own bodies. We examine the relevant provisions of the Human Tissue Act 2004 and the role of the Human Tissue Authority. In addition, we address some aspects of the role of the coroner, a key factor in the regulation of the use of bodies and body parts post-mortem.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the pharmaceutical industry made unprecedented efforts to collaborate and work in the public interest to develop novel treatments, diagnostics and vaccines. But a long history of opacity, competitiveness and catastrophes mean there is much ground to make up. Starting with the thalidomide tragedy, a series of disasters taught us the painful lesson that drugs can be dangerous and their use must be paid for. This chapter considers routes to redress, focusing on negligence and the Consumer Protection Act.

Although it has been recognised that Belgrade Pride forced the topic of LGBT issues into the public debate and forced the state authorities to recognise the presence of LGBT lives, this chapter demonstrates how the history of Belgrade Pride has contributed to a transformation of Pride’s politics in Serbia. Overall, the chapter argues that the international context in which Belgrade Pride has been taking place has had several (unintended) consequences on the meaning of Pride for the local LGBT population. Contextualising the political meaning of Belgrade Pride in the EU’s approach to Pride – i.e. a litmus test for fundamental rights and the rule of law – it becomes clear that the inconsistency of EU pressure and the associated discontinuity of Prides has negatively impacted Pride’s potential to create visibility of LGBT people. The Pride bans, and the fact that international actors did not question the conditions in which Pride takes place, not only anchored Belgrade Pride in the realm of human rights, but also contributed to a dislocation of Pride, away from local LGBT people’s grievances. As such, the chapter argues that Belgrade Pride was voided of its transformational politics, while the Serbian state, in turn, stepped into the political vacuum to appropriate Pride. It used the event to promote its European character internationally, while domestically, the government uses Pride to emphasise the state’s power and sovereignty, while delimiting the possibility of creating meaningful visibility of LGBT people.

In this chapter we consider in particular: (1) The authority to carry out research on the human adult derives from that person’s consent. How satisfactory are the principles governing consent to participation in clinical research? (2) The law on medical treatment demands that the physician respects the confidences of their patients. How does this translate into medical research? (3) What provision does the law make for an individual suffering injury in the course of their participation in such clinical research?

This context-setting chapter examines aspects of medical practice including the tiers of medical regulation, governance structures with the health service and NHS reform and its impact on doctors.

To understand what history offers, we look back in time to uncover a longstanding relationship of law, medical practice and medical science.

This chapter considers the regulation of human fertilisation and embryology. It considers the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Acts and the role of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. It considers the regulation of treatment of people unable to have a child and assistance that can be given to those who could pass on serious genetic conditions to their children.

In this new chapter to the 7th edition, we consider the regulation of research on the embryo and its moral implications. We consider the benefits it has to offer and the limitations imposed in law.

This chapter presents an in-depth analysis of Belgrade Pride between 2000 and 2015. It argues that the organisation of Belgrade Pride has predominantly been a product of particular configurations of domestic and international politics, in which the context of Serbia’s EU accession process has played an important role with diverging effects. Three phases are identified, which together present a story of engagement and disengagement of various political actors throughout the fifteen-year history of Belgrade Pride. Although it is a common opinion among activists and observers of LGBT rights in Serbia that Belgrade Pride happened because of the EU accession process, the chapter counters such assertions. And though it is undeniable that the EU and the accession process have played a key role in the three ‘successful’ Prides in 2010, 2014 and 2015, it is argued that a myopic view of these three Prides obscures the fact that the changing EU–Serbia relationship within the accession process has equally contributed to the reasons why Pride was banned for three consecutive years. Finally, the chapter argues that the return of Belgrade Pride is better conceived of as, what the monograph labels, ‘tactical Europeanisation’ – i.e. a performative act to communicate the readiness to Europeanise by aligning oneself with certain ‘European norms’, while disengaging and undermining with the underlying principles of the norm at the domestic level.

In this chapter we consider the schemes by which patients seek accountability when things go wrong with their or their relatives’ treatment. We consider the interaction between mechanisms designed to provide answers and redress for patients and those that seek to ensure learning to improve patient safety. In the second part of the chapter, we consider criticisms of the tort system and alternative proposals.

This chapter explores legal questions surrounding organ and tissue transplantation including living donations and recent developments of deemed consent in relation to organ donation after death.