Medical responsibility lawsuits have become a fact of life in every physician’s medical practice. However, there is evidence that physicians are increasingly practising defensive medicine, ordering more tests than may be necessary and avoiding patients with complicated conditions. The modern practice of medicine is increasingly complicated by factors beyond the traditional realm of patient care, including novel technologies, loss of physician autonomy, and economic pressures. A continuing and significant issue affecting physicians and the healthcare system is malpractice. In the latter half of the 20th century, there was a major change in the attitude of the public towards the medical profession. People were made aware of the huge advances in medical technology, because health problems increasingly tended to attract media interest and wide publicity. Medicine is a victim of its own success in this respect, and people are now led to expect the latest techniques and perfect outcomes on all occasions. This burst of technology and hyper-specialization in many fields of medicine means that each malpractice claim is transformed into a scientific challenge, requiring specific preparation in analysis and judgment of the clinical case in question. The role of legal medicine becomes more and more peculiar in this judicial setting, often giving rise to erroneous interpretations and hasty scientific verdicts, but guidelines on the methodology of ascertainments and criteria of evaluation are lacking all over the world.The aim of this volume is to clarify the steps required for sequential in-depth analysis of events and consequences of medical actions, in order to verify whether, in the presence of damage, errors or non-observance of rules of conduct by health personnel exist, and which causal values and links of their hypothetical misconduct are involved.​

This book brings together some of the most respected Asian and Australasian experts on medical liability to provide insightful perspectives on civil and criminal law from selected Australasian jurisdictions. It focuses on the idiosyncrasies of the existing law and case law in this part of the world with regard to medical liability, adopting a comparative and critical perspective. The aim is to provide an overview of the basic elements of medical liability in Asian and Australian jurisdictions, as well as the latest developments and general trends in jurisprudence. Given the broad range of jurisdictions covered, the book offers lawmakers, health administrators and practitioners, both in law and medicine, an alternative approach to the delivery of health care. Further, it is essential reading for all those (academics, lawyers, judges, researchers, practicing doctors and those involved in the growing area of legal medicine) working in medical liability, specially in the Australasian context.

This timely guide covers all aspects of litigation involving drugs, medical devices, vaccines and other FDA-regulated prescription products.

Medical Liability and Treatment Relationships is based on Part I, The Provider and the Patient, of parent book Health Care Law and Ethics, and adds additional coverage of professional licensure and regulating access to drugs, and new cases and materials covering medical malpractice. Integrating public health, financial and ethical issues, this casebook uses compelling case law, clear notes and comprehensive background information to illuminate the complex and dynamic field of health care law. Features: Comprehensive yet concise, this casebook covers all aspects of medical liability and the treatment relationships between patient and provider. Includes cases and materials on Medical Malpractice not found in the parent book, including: Supreme Court decisions and notes on forensic medicine and epidemiological evidence. Problems on practice guidelines as proof of negligence. Cases and notes about ethics violations arising from ex parte contacts with treating physicians. Integrates public health and ethics issues from a relational perspective. Clear notes smooth transitions between cases and background information. Teacher’s Manual is derived from corresponding sections in the parent Teacher’s Manual. Online resources provide background materials, updates of important events, additional relevant topics and links to other resources on the Internet.

Patient Safety Culture: Theory, Methods and Application is essential reading for all of the professional groups involved in patient safety and healthcare quality improvement, filling an important gap in the current market. The main purpose of this book is to provide researchers, healthcare managers and human factors practitioners with details of the latest developments within the theory and application of PSC within healthcare. It brings together contributions from the most prominent researchers and practitioners in the field of PSC and covers the background to work on safety culture, the dominant theories and concepts within PSC, examples of PSC tools, methods of assessment and their application, and details of the most prominent challenges for the future in the area.