Published: 2020-07-30

Third Party Negligence as a Premise Preventing an Objective Attribution of Culpability: a Physician’s Liability for a Medical Error

Karolina Piech
Zeszyty Prawnicze
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2020.20.2.08

Abstract

The article considers a physician’s liability under Polish criminal law for a medical error due to breach of duty. I examine the issue from the point of view of the premises which hinder or prevent an objective attribution, my aim being to answer the question when negligence on the part of a physician who joins a causal chain initiated by another medical professional will constitute a condition for his exemption from criminal liability. I apply the legal doctrine method to review the doctrine of Polish substantive criminal law and the jurisprudence of Polish criminal courts, and consider whether the determination that the negligence was or was not causative makes a difference to the possibility of exempting the person who first endangered the patient’s health or life from criminal liability. I enumerate the premises for the exemption of such a person from criminal liability, and conclude by giving an answer to the question put at the beginning of the article.

Keywords:

attribution of culpability; causal relationship; medical error; medical liability; negligence.

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Citation rules

Piech, K. (2020). Third Party Negligence as a Premise Preventing an Objective Attribution of Culpability: a Physician’s Liability for a Medical Error. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 20(2), 141–162. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2020.20.2.08

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