Law's Faith in Medicine

Abstract

This paper uses techniques of rhetorical criticism to chart the rise and fall of law's faith in clinical medicine in the period from the foundation of the National Health Service in 1948. In the early decades of the NHS, courts elaborated a series of topics or commonplaces in justifying a generous liability regime for doctors and the concession of extensive clinical discretion. Since the 1980s these topics have declined in persuasiveness. Current medical law rhetoric draws from and contributes to the prevalent culture of consumerism and accountability.