Raj Mohindra graduated from Cambridge in medicine and law, and is now a consultant cardiologist and a non-practising barrister. He also holds an MA (Medical Law and Ethics). In his introduction, he writes that the book’s purpose is “to provide an accessible resource to busy medical professionals” and “to expose the important principles and structures of the law that surrounds modern medical practice”, in a way familiar to doctors — by analysis of interesting cases. In just three pages he outlines, well, some core legal principles, and then launches into chapters dealing with the major issues of medical law — confidentiality, consent, negligence, negligence before birth, abortion, assisted reproduction, human tissue law and end of life issues, profusely illustrated by relevant United Kingdom and some overseas judgments (including some from Australia).

Although he writes well, a fair amount of legal English penetrates Mohindra’s text. This is not a book for a legal neophyte. Further, it is written for a British audience and deals with the law as it currently stands in the UK, some of which is quite different to Australian law. For example, in Australia, the High Court decided in Cattanach v Melchior [2003] HCA 38 that parents with a normal child conceived after a sterilising procedure can receive compensation for the costs of rearing the “unwanted” child to the age of 16, whereas in the UK they cannot (McFarlane v Tayside Health Board [1999] 4 All ER 961).

So although this text is good value, it is a book for those Australian doctors interested in international comparative medical law (perhaps a small market?). Australian doctors wanting a good local legal reference would be better off buying my favourite text, Professor Loane Skene’s Law and medical practice (third edition, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2008) or Stewart, Kerridge and Parker’s The Australian medico-legal handbook (Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2008).

Or just ring your medical defence organisation!