The Doctor and the Law 4- Medical Negligence

Abstract

Medical treatment is not provided with an absolute guarantee of complete success. Improvements in medical science and techniques have markedly reduced the rate of complications and unexpected outcomes from all types of treatment, but they will never disappear completely. However, all patients have the legal right to expect a satisfactory standard of medical care from their doctor even though it is accepted that this can never mean that the doctor can guarantee a satisfactory outcome to the treatment. Most legal actions for negligence in countries with an Anglo-Saxon system of law remain within the civil law, in which a patient brings a personal action against the doctor or hospital, and to understand the concept of medical negligence certain principles must be considered.

Most allegations of medical negligence never come before a court of law for decision. Some cases cannot be defended as far as the doctor is concerned and these will be settled by financial negotiation, either directly or, more commonly, through the medical insurers, without further argument. Other cases cannot be substantiated by the plaintiff and are eventually abandoned, often on legal advice. Of the remainder, less than half go through the full process of investigation in which each ‘side’ obtains expert opinions from independent medical specialists. The strength of these opinions is then reviewed and often the experts and lawyers meet to try to reach common ground and a settlement, and only if there is a wide gap between the expert opinions is the case to go to court for a judge to decide on the relative merits of each argument.