Medical Negligence: Non-Patient and Third Party Claims - Hardcover

Mulheron, Rachael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0754646971 ISBN 13: 9780754646976

Publisher: Routledge, 2010

Synopsis

Healthcare professionals face an increasing threat of litigation from parties whom they have never met in their daily medical practice and who look nothing like the traditional patient. The so-called ’non-patient’ may take many forms”for example, a person who is injured or killed by a mentally-ill, physically-disabled or diseased patient; a wrongfully-accused parent in a child neglect/abuse case; or a local authority which is put to the expense of caring for a negligently-treated patient. This book explores the legal principles and conundrums which arise when determining a healthcare professional’s liability in negligence towards a wide variety of non-patients. The topic is assuming increasing legal importance and relevance, given the potential for many non-patient claims to give rise to class actions litigation, and in light of the legislative and human rights interventions, and the frequent appellate judicial consideration, which non-patient claims have attracted in recent times. The aim of the book is to have utility for both legal and medical professionals; for academics and students of comparative medical negligence and tort law; and for law reformers who may be interested in adopting certain features of statutory models elsewhere which pertain to some non-patient claims, such as those based upon ’Good Samaritan’ conduct. Important parallels or counterpoints from other common law jurisdictions, in which courts and commentators have grappled with the legal complexities of non-patient claims, are also discussed and critically analyzed.

About this title

About the Author

Rachael Mulheron is Professor of Law at Queen Mary University of London. A former practising lawyer in Brisbane, Australia, she is also author of The Class Action in Common Law Legal Systems: A Comparative Perspective (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2004), and The Modern Cy-près Doctrine: Applications and Implications (Routledge Cavendish Publishing, London, 2006).

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0754646971
• ISBN 13: 9780754646976
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 470