Law and theory – Lawyer-client confidences and privilege: USA and UK compared

Comparative review of lawyer-client privilege as applied in England and the USA with reference to relevant case law and consideration of US Presidential power and accountability. Article by Victor Tunkel (Senior Lecturer in Law, Queen Mary, University of London) published in Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and its Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London

Industrial Espionage: What Can the Law Do?

Industrial Espionage: What Can the Law Do

The regulatory cliff edge between contraception and abortion: the legal and moral significance of implantation

In regulating the voluntary interruption of pregnancy, English law has accorded particular significance to two biological events. First, ‘viability’, the moment when a fetus is said to acquire the capacity for independent life, plays an important role in grounding restrictions on access to legal abortion later in pregnancy. Second, equally significantly but far less frequently discussed, ‘implantation’ marks the point in pregnancy from which abortion laws apply. This paper focuses on this earlier biological event. It suggests that an unquestioning reliance on implantation as marking an appropriate moment of transition between two radically different legal frameworks is deeply problematic and is rendered still less sustainable in the light of the development of new technologies that potentially operate shortly after the moment of implantation

Training Clinicians Plus : A New Paradigm of Medical Education

Program Description: Dr. Allan Tunkel’s presentation recognized the importance of Population Medicine in Undergraduate Medical Education. He also described the creation and components of Primary Care-Population Medicine Program at Brown University as well as defined the outcomes for a successful Primary Care-Population Medicine Program. Presentation: 52:1

Acute bacterial meningitis in adults

Over the past several decades, the incidence of bacterial meningitis in children has decreased but there remains a significant burden of disease in adults, with a mortality of up to 30%. Although the pathogenesis of bacterial meningitis is not completely understood, knowledge of bacterial invasion and entry into the CNS is improving. Clinical features alone cannot determine whether meningitis is present and analysis of cerebrospinal fluid is essential for diagnosis. Newer technologies, such as multiplex PCR, and novel diagnostic platforms that incorporate proteomics and genetic sequencing, might help provide a quicker and more accurate diagnosis. Even with appropriate antimicrobial therapy, mortality is high and so attention has focused on adjunctive therapies; adjunctive corticosteroids are beneficial in certain circumstances. Any further improvements in outcome are likely to come from either modulation of the host response or novel approaches to therapy, rather than new antibiotics. Ultimately, the best hope to reduce the disease burden is with broadly protective vaccines