About the court cases of doctors

Abstract

The growth of legal cases against physicians and, in particular, the apparent futility of the vast majority of charges (81.4%) caused natural unease in the medical community. It was feared that any dissatisfaction with a doctor, any case of failed treatment, prolonged course of illness, death of a patient and other failures and misfortunes natural in the medical profession, might serve as a pretext for legal action against the doctor. The ease and accessibility of prosecution in the hands of people with little understanding of the art of medicine and the limited possibilities of medical science, while at the same time overestimating their rights in relation to the doctor, threatened to put the work of doctors in extremely difficult conditions.