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Plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes: limitations of an adversarial system
The adversarial nature of medical negligence litigation is subject to frequent criticism by the media, patient advocates, and scholars. In Ireland, reform of the medical negligence dynamic is often mooted, particularly in response to the high financial costs of this type of litigation; however, chan...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Oxford University Press
2022
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10210064/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36191047 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwac037 |
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author | Tumelty, Mary-Elizabeth |
author_facet | Tumelty, Mary-Elizabeth |
author_sort | Tumelty, Mary-Elizabeth |
collection | PubMed |
description | The adversarial nature of medical negligence litigation is subject to frequent criticism by the media, patient advocates, and scholars. In Ireland, reform of the medical negligence dynamic is often mooted, particularly in response to the high financial costs of this type of litigation; however, change in this area has been slow. Recently, the Irish courts have dealt with a number of high-profile, medical negligence disputes, including claims for those affected by the CervicalCheck controversy, which involved the failure to disclose the results of a retrospective audit to women who had developed cervical cancer. These cases have again highlighted the shortcomings of an adversarial system. This article explores the limitations of the tort system in the context of plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes, drawing on empirical findings (qualitative interviews with patient support groups and barristers), and the literature. In doing so, the article argues that while financial compensation is necessary and appropriate in cases of medical negligence, the current system fails to recognise the often emotional nature of these claims, and the wider needs and aims of litigants involved in these disputes. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10210064 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Oxford University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-102100642023-05-26 Plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes: limitations of an adversarial system Tumelty, Mary-Elizabeth Med Law Rev Original Article The adversarial nature of medical negligence litigation is subject to frequent criticism by the media, patient advocates, and scholars. In Ireland, reform of the medical negligence dynamic is often mooted, particularly in response to the high financial costs of this type of litigation; however, change in this area has been slow. Recently, the Irish courts have dealt with a number of high-profile, medical negligence disputes, including claims for those affected by the CervicalCheck controversy, which involved the failure to disclose the results of a retrospective audit to women who had developed cervical cancer. These cases have again highlighted the shortcomings of an adversarial system. This article explores the limitations of the tort system in the context of plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes, drawing on empirical findings (qualitative interviews with patient support groups and barristers), and the literature. In doing so, the article argues that while financial compensation is necessary and appropriate in cases of medical negligence, the current system fails to recognise the often emotional nature of these claims, and the wider needs and aims of litigants involved in these disputes. Oxford University Press 2022-10-03 /pmc/articles/PMC10210064/ /pubmed/36191047 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwac037 Text en © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com |
spellingShingle | Original Article Tumelty, Mary-Elizabeth Plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes: limitations of an adversarial system |
title | Plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes: limitations of an adversarial system |
title_full | Plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes: limitations of an adversarial system |
title_fullStr | Plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes: limitations of an adversarial system |
title_full_unstemmed | Plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes: limitations of an adversarial system |
title_short | Plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes: limitations of an adversarial system |
title_sort | plaintiff aims in medical negligence disputes: limitations of an adversarial system |
topic | Original Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10210064/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36191047 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwac037 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT tumeltymaryelizabeth plaintiffaimsinmedicalnegligencedisputeslimitationsofanadversarialsystem |