The case numbers of civil trials of medical malpractice dramatically increase in the past years in Taiwan. To construct the standards of liability and compensation in medical malpractice, we examined legal theories, courts' decisions and legal reasoning, and legislative purposes in the present study. Currently, the "differentiated amount theory" is the most popular theory in Taiwan, which emphasizes the principle to compensate all damages and lost benefits by the incremental risk caused by liable medical practice. However, the amount of compensation should be based on the ill status of the patients before the medical practice instead of based on a healthy status. In addition, the uncertainty of medical practice, the versatility of human being, and the nature course of diseases should all be taken into account in determining causality and calculating amount of compensation in order to establish a fair compensation system for medical malpractice.
Date:
2011-01
Relation:
Formosan Journal of Medicine. 2011 Jan;15(1):75-85.
