LEGAL MEDICINE (September 4, 2016)

1. Legal medicine:

Branch of medicine which deals withthe application of medicalknowledge to the

purpose of law andin the administration of justice.The application of basic and
clinical,medical and paramedical sciences toelucidate legal matters

2. Forensic Medicine:

The branch of medicine dealing with the application of medical knowledge to

establish facts in civil or criminal legal cases, such as an investigation into the
cause and time of a suspicious death. Also known as forensic pathology.

3. Medical Jurisprudence:

Deals with the aspect of law and legal concepts in relation with the practice of
medicine. It includes

Licensure and regulatory laws; Physician-patient-hospital relationship together

with the other paramedical personnel, their rights, duties and obligations; and -
Liabilities for non-compliance with the law.

4. Illegal practice of Medicine:

Practice of medicine by any person not qualified and not duly-admitted to perform
medical acts in compliance with law.

5. Medical Malpractice

Failure of a physician to properly perform the duty which devolves upon him in
his professional relation to his patient which results to injury.

It may be defined as bad or unskillful practice of medicine resulting to injury of

the patient or failure on the part of the physician to exercise the degree of care,
skill and diligence, as to treatment in a manner contrary to accepted standards of
medicine resulting to injury to the patient.

Elements of Medical Malpractice

1. The physician has a duty to the patient;
2. The physician failed to perform such duty to his patient;
3. As a consequence of the failure, injury was sustained by the patient;
4. The failure of the physician is the proximate cause of the injury
sustained by the patient.

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 Criminal medical malpractice, the act or omission complained of must be
punishable by law at the time of commission or omission.

B. Rules of Court, Rule 138 Section 5

Additional requirements for other applicants. All applicants for admission other
than those referred to in the two preceding section shall, before being admitted to
the examination, satisfactorily show that they have regularly studied law for four
years, and successfully completed all prescribed courses, in a law school or
university, officially approved and recognized by the Secretary of Education. The
affidavit of the candidate, accompanied by a certificate from the university or
school of law, shall be filed as evidence of such facts, and further evidence may
be required by the court.

No applicant shall be admitted to the bar examinations unless he has

satisfactorily completed the following courses in a law school or university duly
recognized by the government: civil law, commercial law, remedial law, criminal
law, public and private international law, political law, labor and social legislation,
medical jurisprudence, taxation and legal ethics.

C. 1987 Constitution, Article XII, Section 14

The sustained development of a reservoir of national talents consisting of Filipino

scientists, entrepreneurs, professionals, managers, high-level technical
manpower and skilled workers and craftsmen in all fields shall be promoted by
the State. The State shall encourage appropriate technology and regulate its
transfer for the national benefit.

The practice of all professions in the Philippines shall be limited to Filipino

citizens, save in cases prescribed by law.

D. R.A. No. 2382, Medical Act of 1959

E. Doctrines:
1. Doctrine of Vicarious Liability

Doctrine of Imputed Negligence/Command Responsibility: Vicarious liability

means the responsibility of a person, who is not negligent, for the wrongful
conduct or negligence of another.

2. Contributory Negligence

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 - Doctrine of Common Fault

- It has been defined as conduct on the part of the plaintiff or injured party,
contributing as a legal cause to the harm he has suffered, which falls below
the standard which he is required to conform to his own protection.

- It is the act or omission amounting to want of care on the part of the

complaining party which, concurring with the defendants negligence, is the
proximate cause of the injury.

3. Ostensible Agent

- In cases wherein the employees are at the same time are independent
contractors of the hospital;

- Because of this peculiar situation, they are considered ostensible agents and
therefore, the hospital must be held liable for their negligent acts.(pathologist,
radiologist, anesthesiologist).

4. Borrowed Servant

- Ordinarily, resident physicians, nurses and other personnel of the hospital are
employees or servants of the hospital;

- In some instances, they are under the temporary supervision and control of
another other than their employer while performing their duties;

- By fiction of law, they are deemed borrowed from the hospital by someone
and for any wrongful act committed by them during the period, their temporary
employer must be held liable for the discharge of their acts and duties;

- In the determination whether one is a borrowed servant, it is necessary that

he is not only subjected to the control of another with regard to the work done
and the manner of performing it but also that the work to be done is for the
benefit of the temporary employer.

5. Captain of the Ship

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 This doctrine innunciates liability of the surgeon not only for the wrongful acts of
those who are under his physical control but also those wherein he has extension
of control.

6. Res Ipsa Loquitur

- The thing speaks for itself; nature of the wrongful act or injury is suggestive of
negligence.

- General rule: expert testimony is necessary to prove that a physician has done a
negligent act or that has deviated from the standard of medical practice.

Requisites of Res Ipsa Loquitur Doctrine:

1. The accident must be of a kind which ordinarily does not occur in the absence
of someones negligence;

2. It must be caused by an agency or instrumentality within the exclusive control

of the defendant;

3. It must not have been due to any voluntary action or contribution on the part
of the plaintiff.

Some cases wherein the Doctrine of Res Ipsa Loquitor has been applied:

1. Objects left in the patients body at the time of caesarian section;

2. Injury to a healthy part of the body;

3. Removal of a wrong part of the body when another part wad intended;

4. Infection resulting from unsterilized instruments;

5. Failure to take radiographs to diagnose a possible fracture;

Instances where the Doctrine of Res Ipsa Loquitor does not apply:

1. Where the Doctrine of Calculated Risk is applicable;

2. When an accepted method of medical treatment involves hazards which may

produce injurious results regardless of the care exercised by the physician.

3. Bad Result Rule;

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 4. Honest Errors of judgment as to Appropriate Procedure;

5. Mistake in the Diagnosis

In most medical malpractice suits, there is a necessity for a physician to give his
expert medical opinion to prove whether acts or omissions constitute medical
negligence. This doctrine has been regarded as rule of sympathy to counteract
the conspiracy of silence

7. Assumption of Risk

- Predicated upon knowledge and informed consent, anyone who voluntarily

assumes the risk of injury from a known danger, if injured, is barred from
recovery.

- violenti non fit injuria, which means that a person who assents and
was injured is not regarded in law to be injured.

8. Last Clear Chance

- A physician who has the last clear chance of avoiding damage or injury but
negligently fails to do is liable.

- It implies thought, appreciation, mental direction and lapse of sufficient time to

effectually act upon impulse to save the life or prevent injury to another.

9. Foreseeability

- A physician cannot be held accountable for negligence if the injury sustained

by the patient is on account of unforeseen conditions but if a physician fails to
ascertain the condition of the patient for want of the requisite skill and training
is answerable for the injury sustained by the patient if injury resulted thereto.

- A physician owes duty of care to all persons who are foreseeably endangered
by his conduct, with respect to the risk which make the conduct unreasonably
dangerous.