Public Policy Implications of Liability Regimes for Injuries Caused by Persons with Alzheimer's Disease

Authors

• Edward P. Richards, University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law

Publication Date

2001

Abstract

People in the United States and the developed world are living longer than ever before. While gains in the average life expectancy have been modest, these gains greatly underestimate the growth of the elderly population. Most of this elderly population is healthier and more active in everyday life than people of comparable age in decades past. The amelioration of many of the diseases of age has accentuated the problems of the chronic diseases for which there are no effective treatments. Perhaps the most devastating of these is Alzheimer's disease, a progressive dementia leading to incapacity and death. As discussed in the other articles in this symposium, Alzheimer's disease raises significant legal issues because it challenges our model of a world neatly divided into autonomous citizens and persons legally adjudged incompetent and under the control of duly-appointed legal representatives in secure facilities.

Recommended Citation

Richards, Edward P. (2001) "Public Policy Implications of Liability Regimes for Injuries Caused by Persons with Alzheimer's Disease," Georgia Law Review: Vol. 35: No. 2, Article 10.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/glr/vol35/iss2/10