Institute News
John Keown Speaks at the House of Lords
June 15, 2011
John Keown (r) with Lord Justice Ward (l)
On May 16th, Senior Research Scholar John Keown appeared before members of the British Parliament, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to deliver a talk entitled "Palliative Care: An Ethical and Legal Duty?" Dr. Keown discussed the serious lack of adequate palliative care even in a highly developed country like the UK, where almost 100,000 people every year suffer unnecessarily because of their unmet need for palliative care. The purpose of the talk was to argue that (i) there is a clear ethical duty to meet this need and (ii) the provision of palliative care should be made an urgent priority. Keown also explained how existing civil and criminal law currently protects against negligence and argued for specific ways to extend protections to cover all patients.
At an event hosted by Lord Brennan, QC, at Gray's Inn on the following day, Keown delivered another talk, "The Inviolability of Life and the Law: A Clarification," to an audience of senior judges and lawyers. The purpose of the talk was to clarify the principle of the inviolability of life; in particular, he explained that, while the principle prohibits the intentional taking of life, it does not require the preservation of life at all costs. This talk, as the one before the House of Lords, was followed by a lively question and answer session.
Updated versions of the content of both talks will be included as chapters in Keown's forthcoming Oxford University Press book on the law and ethics of medicine.