Negligence In The Medical Profession: The Doctor’s Dilemma

Abstract

Medical science has made a lot of progress in procedures that otherwise would have threatened the life of people. These activities of medical practitioners include advice, diagnosis and cure. The importance of the legal duties of a medical practitioner has made law to impose some duties on him for ensuring that his activities are carried out within the permissive extent of the law. Beyond the internal punishment mechanism, a medical practitioner may also be charged for compensation based on negligence. This paper thus looks into negligence as a civil liability or as a criminal offence that a medical practitioner may be liable for.

The paper submits that the law relating to negligence recognizes the issues of duty of care, breach of that duty and resultant or referable damage as the basis for liability. The paper posits that the dividing line between negligence and misadventure must be properly drawn. The law thus requires that it should be stated that where the medical doctor claims the title, holds himself out or is regarded as a specialist with respect to a particular area of the various departments, areas or segments of medicine or medical care, the standard of care required is that of a reasonable specialist possessing the requisite skill in that area. In drawing a conclusion, the paper states that where a medical doctor in the performance of a surgery needs to take an urgent action, his liability or otherwise will be determined from the point of view of reasonableness of conduct in this regard.