The Development of Medical Liability in Germany, 1800–1945

Colm Peter McGrath

Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte 314
Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann 2019. X, 262 p.

ISSN 1610-6040
ISBN 978-3-465-04357-6

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This volume examines the development of medical liability in Germany during its intense formative period from 1800–1945. It focuses on how the fault requirement in civil law was conceptualised and applied to liability for errors in the diagnosis and treatment of a patient. By focusing on the development of the law, and how it related and responded to changes in the nature of medicine, medical practitioners and healthcare over this period, it uncovers a rich interaction between the legal and medical narratives concerning fault. It offers an account of legal development where the law and lawyers were deeply embedded in, and influenced by, the broader social context, identifying a gradual shift towards asserting the independence of courts from accepted medical narrative in the light of technological advances.

Content

Preface | IX

Introduction | 1

Chapter 1: Medical Organisation, Regulation and Discipline in Germany: 1800–1945 | 11

Chapter 2: Medical Error and the Criminal Law | 55

Chapter 3: Medical Error and Contract Law | 81

Chapter 4: Medical Error and the Law of Delict | 111

Chapter 5: Medical Error and the BGB | 139

Conclusion | 221

List of Abbreviations | 239

Bibliography | 241

Index of terms | 259