The importance of law is evident in protecting individuals’ rights and providing justice in the healthcare field, where medical errors are a vital issue posing complex legal challenges. The matter of medical errors is both a legal and ethical challenge. Saudi law seeks to determine responsibilities and achieve justice in cases of medical errors, with a focus on protecting the patient and the quality of the provided healthcare service and care.
What are Medical Cases?
A medical error is defined as a violation and deviation of a physician from the recognized rules and principles of the medical profession, thus it is a departure from medical standards and controls that leads to harm to the patient, whether this harm is physical, psychological, or moral.
Types of Medical Cases:
- A doctor’s negligence in treating a patient, or failure to take the necessary medical procedures to save their life or health.
- A doctor’s error in diagnosing a patient’s condition, leading to the patient receiving the wrong treatment.
- A doctor performing surgery incorrectly, leading to the patient’s injury or death.
- A doctor giving the patient medication or treatment inappropriate for their condition, leading to harm.
Patients’ Rights in Medical Cases:
Among the most important of these rights are:
- The Right to Receive Appropriate Medical Care: Healthcare institutions must provide care in accordance with recognized medical standards.
- The Right to Informed Consent: Doctors must obtain the patient’s consent after providing all information related to the treatment or surgery.
- The Right to Privacy: The patient’s health information must be protected and not disclosed without their permission.
- The Right to Accurate Information: Doctors must provide clear and accurate information about the patient’s condition and the proposed treatment.
The Role of a Lawyer in Medical Cases:
A lawyer plays a vital role in medical cases through:
- Providing Legal Consultations: The lawyer provides legal advice to the patient or doctor regarding their rights and obligations.
- Gathering Evidence: The lawyer helps in collecting evidence and testimonies that support the case.
- Representing Clients in Court: The lawyer defends the client’s rights before the court and presents legal arguments.
- Negotiating Settlements: The lawyer helps in negotiating fair financial settlements between the disputing parties.
How to Deal with Medical Cases:
If you are facing a medical case, the following steps may be helpful:
- Contacting a Specialized Lawyer: Obtaining legal advice from a lawyer specializing in medical cases can be a crucial step.
- Gathering Medical Evidence: Collecting medical records, reports, and testimonies to support your case.
- Good Documentation: Documenting all communications and procedures related to the case to ensure organized presentation of evidence.
- Negotiation and Settlement: In some cases, negotiating a financial settlement may be beneficial to avoid lengthy and complex legal proceedings.
In Conclusion:
A medical error is a violation or deviation of a physician from medical rules and principles, and compensation is provided for it in accordance with Article (27) of the Law of Practicing Healthcare Professions. The civil liability of a physician in the Saudi system is determined by the fulfillment of its elements: medical error, harm, and the causal relationship. The harm must be a direct and definite result of the doctor’s error, infringing upon a legitimate right such as the right to life and bodily integrity. When the doctor’s civil liability is established, they are obligated to compensate for the damages incurred by the patient. The compensation is determined based on the type and severity of the error, and it is assessed by the Legal Health Authority, which is the judicial body competent to consider medical errors. Therefore, we recommend that this authority necessitates the documentation of medical errors in all healthcare institutions for the purpose of addressing them and uncovering their causes, by allocating committees in hospitals that periodically and systematically study and analyze all medical errors and investigate their sources, to benefit from them practically.
