The impact of no-fault compensation on the regulation of medical practice in New Zealand.

On 1 April 1974 New Zealand's no-fault accident compensation scheme commenced. Since then doctors in New Zealand have been protected from civil claims for damages which arise directly or indirectly from medical misadventure. During this period disciplinary complaints against doctors have risen substantially but there is no empirical evidence that New Zealand's no-fault accident compensation scheme has adversely affected the regulation of medical practice in that country.