Medical Error in the Yemini and Comparative Civil Law

Abstract

The doctor is obligated to provide the appropriate treatment to the patient, and to take the care required by the principles of the medical profession. The doctor’s relationship with the patient is a human relationship, and at the same time, it is a legal relationship. According to this relationship, consensus was held in most Arab and foreign legislation to hold the doctor accountable when he commits a negligence in his medical behavior that is not in agreement with the behavior of an attentive physician found in the same special circumstances that surrounded the physician in charge, with due regard for the same specialty. The scientific development has contributed to the cure of many diseases. However, this development was accompanied by risks on bad effects due to medical errors. This study focuses on the practicing system of medical professions in Yemen, and how the Yemeni law addresses the doctor's civil responsibility for the medical and professional mistakes. It also examines the nature of the doctor's medical responsibility, the standards for the doctor's commitment in taking care of the patient, the time when the doctor is asked about his mistakes, the criteria by which the mistake can be assessed, and the means that can be used to prove the medical mistake. Due to the lack of the legal rules, as well as the lack of specialized researches and studies in the Yemeni library in relation to this study's topic, this research intends to achieve the objectives mentioned above to provide solutions for controlling the phenomenon of medical errors, which is still an area that many countries, including Yemen, worry about.