Rapid advances in medical science and technology mean that the boundaries of what is scientifically or medically possible are continually being pushed. There is a vast range of medical treatments and procedures available which once would have been considered science fiction, that have now become a reality. These developments mean that doctors and other health professionals can now prolong the life of an individual that not that long ago would not have been possible.
For many, these developments mean that expectations have also increased, from simple management of illness to the hope of a complete cure. Additionally, emerging health technologies, access to data, information sharing and other healthcare innovations are being introduced to global healthcare systems. The law often struggles to keep pace with advances in medicine, science and technology. In many circumstances, it is only when issues come to the fore that the law and policymakers are required to consider how, when or if there is a need for regulation or law reform.
The objective of the health law stream is to bring together academics, researchers and health practitioners interested in the ethical, legal and social challenges that health law issues present. As the health law stream leader, I invite you to contact [email protected], others in the stream or AABHL members to engage in robust discussion and foster collaborative relationships in the area of health law.
Stream Leaders
Dr Megan Prictor
Senior Lecturer
Dr Megan Prictor (LLB (Hons), PhD) is Senior Lecturer at Melbourne Law School, the University of Melbourne, specialising in the legal and governance aspects of emerging health technologies. She is part of the HeLEX@Melbourne research programme and writes extensively on the regulation and legal impacts of clinical technologies (especially decision support, communication technologies and medical records), innovative informed consent methods, privacy and health data governance.
If you have any health-law related activities, ideas, or suggestions that would be beneficial to share with other AABHL members please contact me: [email protected]
AABHL members interested in health law, please sign up to the Health Law stream email list to stay informed of relevant discussions and opportunities.
Tess Whitton
PhD Candidate
Tess Whitton is a researcher at HeLEX (Health Law and Emerging Technologies) located within the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne. She is interested in law and regulation of emerging health and genomic technologies. In specific her interests regard novel governance strategies and the relationship between governance structures and changing socio-technological realities. She is currently completing her PhD with Professors Jane Kaye, Mark Taylor and Megan Munsie considering adaptive governance of human germline genome editing in Australia.
If you have any health-law related activities, ideas, or suggestions that would be beneficial to share with other AABHL members please contact me: [email protected]