Analysis On The Liability Of Medical Damage From The Perspective Of Similar Cases

Tensions between doctors and patients are inc reasingly prominent for various reasons,such as information asymmetry and insufficient medical resources,giving rise to a great deal of attention placed on medical damage liability disputes.Generally,the adoption of the general doctrine of liability with fault in cases pertaining to liability disputes for medical damages does not leave much room for debate.Nevertheless,from the perspective of fact finding,there are differences in the specific system designs among countries in that professionals have to be introduced to provide medical knowledge involved in the cases.The settlement of medical disputes in China has witnessed the transformation from "administrative regulation" to "civil litigation".Despite the unified understanding of the legislation o f liability for medical damage,there are still issues to be discussed in the practice of application of law and diversified solutions to the disputes.Based on the 68 case samples collected from China Judgments Online,the focus of disputes concerning medical damage liabilities includes: 1.The entity,such as the scope of medical subject and medical behavior,the reasonable obligation of doctors,presumption of medical fault,deduction of causality,the scope of damage consequence,cause of liability interruption,etc.;2.The procedure,such as evidence review,distribution of burden of proof,operation of forensic procedures,etc.In addition to the basic concepts,the definition of medical behavior,medical subject,and damage consequences should take into account the understanding of internal relations of elements above and the adjustment made with social life practice.As a bridge between the wrongdoings and damage consequences,causality is by no means isolated and constitutes a progressive step in th e overall timeline with the other t wo.The core of the identification of medical errors is to judge whether the medical subject has fulfilled the diagnosis and treatment obligation matching with its medical qualification and ability.In view of the legal o bligation of diagnosis and treatmen t,the violation of the medical record management regulations undoubtedly means the violation of the diagnosis and treatment regulations,thus inevitably constituting an error of diagnosis and treatment.Despite the identification of facts in the litigatio n requires the parties to provide evidence,there is a significant difference in the ability between doctors and patients.The procedure of medical fault identification should never be abused even though it serves as the key link in lawsuits of medical damage liability.As evidence,the expert opinion should strictly abide by the evidence rules.The medical institution as the respondent will bear the responsibility of hindering with the revelation of the proof unless it co mplies with its obligation to provi de proof.The flexibility of judicature embodies the respect for the differences among cases,while free evaluation in combination with the case s is the power and obligation of judges.Rather than being overly dependent o n the appraisal institutions or being "kidnapped" by extralegal pressures,judges are expected to make independent judgments based on their life experience and common sense,even in medical damage liability disputes that involve substantial expertise.