About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

57 Medico-Legal J. 3 (1989)

handle is hein.journals/medlgjr57 and id is 1 raw text is: THE MEDICO-LEGAL JOURNAL Founded 1901 1989 Vol. 57 Part One EDITORIAL A Conference on No Fault Compensation THERE HAS BEEN a tenfold increase in the numbers of medical negligence claims mounted in the courts over the last ten years, and the tide of litigation continues to grow rapidly. This, with its concomitant of settlements and court awards of damages, has in turn has contributed to doctors' escalating premiums, with differential premiums to be introduced by the Medical Protection Society for the first time later in the year. Some specialties, formerly popular, such as obstetrics and gynaecology, have been particularly subjected to litigation, with awards for brain damaged babies being among the largest made and often with the longest time lag since the limitation period can be indefinitely extended for such plaintiffs. Disenchantment and disquiet has set in, producing an element of shroud waving with cries that such litigation produces defensive medicine which is to nobody's benefit. On the other side of the coin, actions against doctors are seen to be unfairly loaded against patients and there is considerable (and arguably justified) dissatisfaction with existing complaints procedures and doc- tors' accountability. A more open and frank approach with patients has been urged - but unhappily. with negligence still the only criteria for compensation, doctors remain reluctant to admit to error (which may or may not be negligent) for fear of fuelling stigmatising and distressing law suits. On January 11, the scene was set for a stimulating debate by Dr John Havard, Secretary of the BMA. His subject (for the Stevens Lecture for the Laity at the RSM) was Medical Negligence - the Mounting Dilemma was a substantial appetiser for the two day joint meeting organised by the Royal Society of medicine and the British Medical Association to debate No Fault Compensation. The conference, hosted by the Royal Society of Medicine on January 12 and 13. Some 150 people (including Dame Rosalind Hurley, Chairman of the Medicines Commission) attended and the debate and discussion were lively and at times heated. Two related issues which repeatedly arose both on and off the podium were accountability and peer monitoring and levels of damages and the iniquities produced by lump sum payments in the UK. The event was

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most