On The Defects Of Medical Instruments And The Liability Of Medical Institutions

Recently, there are many medical mishaps that caused by medical instrument defects. People from either judicial theory or practice all regard the medical institutions as the seller of medical instruments and the medical institutions should take the joint liability with the manufactures of the medical instruments, even if they don't have any fault, as the Law of the People's Republic of China on Product Quality has put it forward. According to artical 59 of the Tort Law of the People's Republic of China:"Where any harm to a patient is caused by the defect of any drug, medical disinfectant or medical instrument or by the transfusion of substandard blood, the patient may require a compensation from the manufacturer or institution providing blood, or require a compensation from the medical institution. If the patient requires a compensation from the medical institution, the medical institution that has paid the compensation shall be entitled to be reimbursed by the liable manufacturer or institution providing blood." This can be regarded as an acknowledgement of the current practice. The current practice neglect the fact that the medical the main purpose of the institution is to provide the specialized medical service instead of the medical instruments, and the current practice go against the purpose of the liability without negligence, and may affect the developments of the medical service and management. If the medical institutions don't have any fault, they should not hold the liability, and this is regarded as an common practice all over the world.