Park Bo Young, Pak Ji-Hyun, Hong Seung-Eun, Kang So Ra
Department of Plastic Surgery, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
J Korean Med Sci. 2015 Dec;30(12):1718-22. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2015.30.12.1718. Epub 2015 Nov 30.
This study intended to review the precedents on plastic surgery medical malpractice lawsuits in lower-court trials, classify the reasons of 'limitation of liability' by type, and suggest a standard in the acknowledgement of limitation of liability ratio. The 30 lower-court's rulings on the cases bearing the medical negligence of the defendants acknowledged the liability ratio of the defendants between 30% and 100%. Ten cases ruled that the defendants were wholly responsible for the negligence or malpractice, while 20 cases acknowledged the limitation of liability principle. In the determination of damage compensation amount, the court considered the cause of the victim side, which contributed in the occurrence of the damage. The court also believed that it is against the idea of fairness to have the assailant pay the whole compensation, even there is no victim-side cause such as previous illness or physical constitution of the patient, and applies the legal doctrine on limitation of liability, which is an independent damage compensation adjustment system. Most of the rulings also limited the ratio of responsibility to certain extent. When considering that the legal doctrine on limitation of liability which supports concrete validity for the fair sharing of damage, the tangible classification of causes of limitation of liability suggested in this study would be a useful tool in forecasting the ruling of a plastic surgery medical malpractice lawsuit.
本研究旨在回顾地方法院审判中整形手术医疗事故诉讼的先例,按类型对“责任限制”原因进行分类,并提出责任限制比例认定的标准。地方法院对30起认定被告存在医疗过失的案件作出的裁决中,认定被告的责任比例在30%至100%之间。其中10起案件裁定被告对过失或不当行为承担全部责任,20起案件认可责任限制原则。在损害赔偿金额的判定上,法院考虑了受害者一方在损害发生过程中的促成因素。法院还认为,即使不存在诸如患者既往疾病或身体体质等受害者一方因素,让侵权人承担全部赔偿责任也有违公平理念,故而适用责任限制法律原则,这是一种独立的损害赔偿调整制度。多数裁决也在一定程度上限制了责任比例。鉴于支持损害公平分担具体效力的责任限制法律原则,本研究中对责任限制原因进行的切实分类将成为预测整形手术医疗事故诉讼裁决的有用工具。