Medical Error As The Criminal Legal Category

Abstract

The medical practiceis often associated with the injury, which may be the subject of criminal and legal assessment. The specific of the legal responsibility of the health workers is connected with a problem of absence of the definition of «medical error», which is a significant gap at the national legislation.

Two diametrically opposite directions on the definition of «medical error» is formed: medical and legal. But despite of the various definitions of scientists, medical error is the action of the medical worker who provides medical care, expressed in noncompliance approved institution, quality standards and local protocols, resulting in the injury of the patient after a detailed examination of all the circumstances.

Medical errors can be caused by the objective or subjective reasons. The objective reasons include actions (inaction) of health workers that do not violate statutory rules and regulations, but caused harm to the patient. It can be atypical of the disease, the individual anatomical abnormalities of body structure, functioning of the patient or allergic reactions that are impossible to predict with standard medical intervention. The subjective reasons include actions (inaction)made by medical workers who unreasonably ignore the established medical standards, are careless, arrogant or allow unreasonable risk at insufficiency of the experience or knowledge.

Medical worker should not be responsible for injury only when he conscientiously and properly performs his professional duties.

Poor training of medical workers in medical schools, inability of training in the developed centers in other countries, because of the lack of funds,can be distinguished among the conditions of the medical crimes.The disadvantage is also that we have no single registry of adverse events of medical care.The functioning of the relevant electronic bank, as the international experienceindicates, allows to control the cases of improper medical care.The introduction of such register will also help to increase a personal responsibility of the health workers for the life and health of everyone.