The latest edition of a well-established and trusted account of the relationship of medicine to Law. 'Legal Aspects of Medical Practice' assists doctors in all specialties and at all levels of seniority in understanding the principles of the legal systemas it affects the medical profession. Together with an outline of clinical forensic medicine and forensic pathology, it enables doctors of all disciplines to recognise and cope with medico-legal complications.
Legal issues in medical practice have been gripping medical doctors by surprise in recent years. Some decades ago legal issues in medical practice never created any problem. A greater awareness is being created by adding doctor’s services within the ambit of Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Neither during the undergraduate training nor the postgraduate courses doctors have ever prepared themselves to deal with real-world situations of litigation related to allegations of negligence. While facing litigation related to allegation of negligence in law courts for the first time, a doctor realizes the importance of medical records, consent and expert witness and searches for help books. There are many books available for reference but this one is a handbook for practising doctors and their lawyers grappled with legal issues culminating in litigations covering a vast number of medical specialties and systems.This book proposes to fill the existing vacuum by creating authentic base required to understand the legal issues in medical practice in India. The esteemed contributors have put in their best efforts to share their knowledge, experience and wisdom with the readers by discussing various landmark legal decisions in the field of (alleged) medical negligence. It aims to make the medical practice safe, ethical, reassuring and hassle-free by discussing various legal issues related to medical practice.
The Ninth Edition of this book continues to provide students with a strong foundation in health care law and an overview of practical ways to improve the quality and safe delivery of healthcare.
The simple reason for creating this book was my impression that the law is having an increasing impact on the practice of medicine. There is hardly a physician I know who has not been deeply troubled by legal problems professionally, economically, and most important of all, psychologically. The past decade has seen medical practice premiums steadily rising. Multimillion dollar verdicts have not been unusual. Having disregarded these vital issues for many years, physicians have suddenly become very aware of litigation-related problems. Having been interested for a long time in the logic ofthe law and the romance of legal research, I thought it would be useful to create a book that would result in the blending of great minds in law and medicine. It has been my long standing observation and belief that the approach of professors of medicine, and that of learned members of the bar and bench, when put together, produce unique results. Putting these views together has been the real challenge in editing this book.
This book provides an overview of the US laws that affect clinical practice for healthcare professionals with no legal background. Divided into thirteen sections, each chapter starts with a summary of the chapter’s content and relevant legal concepts in bullet points before discussing the topics in detail. An application section is provided in many chapters to clarify essential issues by reflecting on clinically relevant case law or clinical vignette(s). Filling a crucial gap in the literature, this comprehensive guide gives healthcare professionals an understanding or a starting point to legal aspects of healthcare.
