[Medical liability: moving forward].
Scientific progress has modified the meaning of medical liability: Total recovery is considered the standard result, and side effects or harm are considered to be malpractice. When medical experts find no errors, liability may be based on legal technicalities despite the absence of any ethically wrong behavior. The increase in lawsuits may well lead to the practice of defensive medicine, despite the negative effects for patients of this approach. The substantial improvements in public health are due to ever better drugs, diagnostic methods, and treatments, but this increasing effectiveness is associated with an increased risk of side effects or unpredictable complications. Indemnification for unforeseeable complications should reduce the number of lawsuits if applied generally and separated from the concept of liability. Civil and criminal procedures would remain available for cases of real malpractice.
Guerot
Claude
C
Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris. Claude.GUEROT@hop.egp.ap-hop-paris.fr
D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal; D011634:Public Health