title: Medical liability in ancient times: a surgeon's view.
abstract: Even in ancient times, medical liability occupied man. Various civilizations had their own interpretation and solutions for this. Original writings are very rare and articles on the subject are equally hard to find. The only relatively trustworthy sources are of a legal nature with their origin in Roman law and Greek philosophy, which is still reflected in our modern western way of thinking and acting today. At a later stage, the influence of the Middle East gives a special view on what was important in other civilizations and their way of thinking. All this proves that medical liability originated in ancient times.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Wilrijk.
authors.forename: F J M P
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Somville
authors.forename: P L O
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Broos
mesh_terms: D013502:General Surgery / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal / Q000266:history*