Summary
Contents
How do we understand health in relation to society? What role does culture play in shaping our experiences of, and orientation to, health and illness? How do we understand medicine and medical treatment within a sociological framework?
Malpractice
Malpractice
Malpractice refers to the improper treatment or culpable neglect of a patient by a health service professional.
Malpractice is often discussed in the context of regulating doctors’ behaviour and, in particular, the ways in which they are held accountable for their mistakes or errors. There are various types of regulatory control. These range from self-regulation through the General Medical Council (which is responsible for adjudicating on allegations of professional misconduct and revalidating a doctor's licence to practice) and medical audit (the continuous peer review of practice) to regulation as a result of individual patients making complaints or seeking legal redress through the courts. The focus here will be on the last form of regulation -malpractice litigation.
Malpractice litigation is based on common law, particularly torts of ...