This course will examine a number of topics where law and medicine intersect. In each area we will include both traditional issues, like “right to die” and more current disputes such as, for example, ownership of bodily tissue. Law now plays a prominent role in medicine and science, and that role continues to expand. Law (statutory and court-made) articulates and interprets norms of conduct. As \society has become more diverse, an emphasis on individual will and belief is ever more entrenched in our ideology. Technological change has required new decisions, clashes over rules and values have expanded exponentially. Because medicine and science affect many of our most fundamental values, policy choices in this field are highly contested and very visible. Law provides a primary institutional setting for authoritative resolution of disputes. We no longer live in small towns, neighbors no longer know one another, religious institutions are far from unitary in their authority, and families have become smaller and less influential in individuals’ lives; consequently, law has become increasingly prominent as these other sites for resolving conflict have weakened. Readings for the course will be drawn from court opinions and statutory material as well as commentary on ethical issues from a range of sources. The course will include substantial discussion among students as well as lectures and class discussion.