The Development of Civil Liability in Medical Negligence: The lack of provision of uniform standard of care, A Comparative historical study of England and Kuwait

Abstract

Medical practitioners hold enormous power: they literally hold our lives in their hands. As such, the profession is revered and respected, and rightly so. Historically, however, this has led to doctors’ positions, decisions and actions effectively being unquestioned. This cannot be right. Medical error is unavoidable, and victims who have been wronged need a remedy. Currently, when faced with issues of medical liability for negligence, most countries provide different avenues for redress, including internal disciplinary procedures, claims in medical negligence and prosecutions for criminal offences. This paper will focus on the tort of medical negligence and, in particular, its development in Kuwaiti Law, as a recent attempt by Kuwaiti authorities to reform this area of law. Special focus will be given to the need to more accurately defne ‘medical error’ and to establish a workable and fair balance between the rights of victims of malpractice and the rights of doctors to do their best to promote patient wellbeing without living in fear of being sued, in comparison with United kingdom law. This is also a topic that is currently under legal review in many other Middle Eastern countries, with the recently passed medical laws of the UAE presenting a particularly interesting comparison.