Editing Emergency medicine (section)

==Ethical and medicolegal issues==

Ethical and medico-legal issues are embedded within the nature of emergency medicine.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marco|display-authors=etal|first=Catherine|year=2011|title=Ethics Curriculum for Emergency Medicine Graduate Medical Education|url=http://fulltext.study/download/3249225.pdf|journal=The Journal of Emergency Medicine Graduate Medical Education|volume=40|issue=5|pages=550–6|doi=10.1016/j.jemermed.2010.05.076|pmid=20888722|via=Elsevier}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Issues surrounding competence, end of life care, and the right to refuse care are encountered daily within the emergency department. Of growing significance are the ethical issues and legal obligations that surround the Mental Health Act, as increasing numbers of suicide attempts and self-harm are seen in the emergency department.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Procter|first=Nicholas|year=2011|title=Emergency Mental Health: Crisis and Response|url=http://www.aenj.com.au/article/S1574-6267(08)00023-2/fulltext|journal=AENJ|volume=11|pages=70–71}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Ryan, Callaghan|first=Christopher, Sascha|year=2010|title=Legal and ethical aspects of refusing medical treatment after a suicide attempt: the Wooltorton case in the Australian context|url=https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2010/193/4/legal-and-ethical-aspects-refusing-medical-treatment-after-suicide-attempt?0=ip_login_no_cache%3Dcb357625d708717e31e0582ed88b9efc|journal=Medical Journal of Australia|volume=193|issue=4|pages=239–242|doi=10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03880.x|pmid=20712547|s2cid=35078064}}</ref> The Wooltorton case of 2007, in which a patient arrived at the emergency department post overdose with a note specifying her request for no interventions, highlights the dichotomy that often exists between a physician's ethical obligation to "[[Primum non nocere|do no harm]]" and the legality of a patient's right to refuse.<ref name=":8" />