Guidelines, good practices and best clinical health practices: valuable guidance for physicians and judges?

Enactment of law n. 24, 8th March 2017, (so-called "Gelli-Bianco" law), has given rise to substantial innovations in the realm of medical liability: on the one hand, an attempt has been made towards redefining the boundaries of professional liability, for the purpose of curbing the use of "defensive medicine"; on the other hand, there is the effort to delineate good medical conduct by means of "institutionalization" and a greater degree of consistency of guidelines and good clinical health care practices. There are, however, thought-provoking cues concerning the relationship between the two concepts, which can be sensibly developed, even in light of international scientific literature. This paper has been designed to critically analyze both principles and their relation within the framework of the newly enacted piece of legislation denominated "Gelli-Bianco", in light of the Italian jurisprudence while at the same time, searching for common ground in international law, particularly Anglo-Saxon countries, aiming to clarify the lawmakers' ultimate goal as well as the law's practical scope of application.