BACKGROUND: As the problems of medical malpractices become a very serious social issue, it is necessary to increasingly relate law to medical practice and evaluate medical services. However, it is not easy to legally call someone to account, as medical services are highly specific, especially anesthetic management. Anesthesiologist can expect to be involved in legal action alleging malpractice, either as a defendant or expert witness. METHODS: The anesthetic informed consent form was examined at 42 general hospitals in the Republic of Korea. The chief physician of the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine was asked for the anesthetic informed consent form they used in clinical anesthetic practice, and then what constitutes adequate informed consent analyzed. RESULTS: All of the hospitals were using informed consent forms, but 42.9% of the hospital used a specific form to describe the complications or risks associated with anesthetic management. In 71.4% of hospitals, the anesthesiologists or anesthetic residents explained the anesthetic risk, but 28.6% of hospitals the anesthetic complications were explained by nurses or surgeons. In 76.2% of hospitals, the anesthetic risks were explained to both the patients and parents, but in 23.8% these were explained to parents only. CONCLUSIONS: We propose a new anesthetic informed consent form for adequate explanation and agreement to legal requirements.
Anesthesiology ; Consent Forms ; Expert Testimony ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Informed Consent* ; Jurisprudence ; Malpractice ; Parents ; Republic of Korea

OBJECTIVE: To seek and ascertain indicators that can be used in the civil competence assessment of the mental disorders involved in compensation of personal injury. METHODS: A retrospective study was made on the data related to the interviewee's mental status assessed by forensic experts during the period from 2003 to 2005 in Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, P.R.China. The 6 indicators, including awareness of situation, factual understanding of issues, appreciation of likely consequences, rational manipulation of information, functioning in one's own environment, and communication of choice, were graded and statistically analyzed using SPSS 11.5 software. RESULTS: The 6 indicators correlated well with the assessment of forensic experts ,with the related coefficient between 0.632 and 0.876, and the inter-related coefficient among the 6 indicators between 0.575 and 0.911. CONCLUSION The 6 indicators could be used for the civil competence assessment and may also be taken as the basis for further standardization and quantification of civil competence.
Antisocial Personality Disorder/diagnosis* ; Compensation and Redress/legislation & jurisprudence* ; Expert Testimony/legislation & jurisprudence* ; Forensic Psychiatry ; Humans ; Insanity Defense ; Mental Competency/legislation & jurisprudence* ; Psychotic Disorders/diagnosis* ; Wounds and Injuries/economics*

OBJECTIVE: To found the quantifiable index of "The severe degree of negligence" in describing the general severity degree of medical malpractice or medical dispute. METHODS: "The severe degree of negligence" can be calculated by the way of multiplying the coefficient of medical malpractice's grade by the coefficient of responsibility degree. RESULTS: There are 15 grades of "The severe degree of negligence" through calculation, from the severest degree of 1 to the lightest degree of 20. CONCLUSION "The severe degree of negligence" can give an order of severe degree to different grade and different responsibility of medical malpractice. According to this order, the operation of medical malpractice and medical dispute settle will be easier and more rationality.
Expert Testimony/legislation & jurisprudence* ; Forensic Medicine ; Humans ; Liability, Legal ; Malpractice/legislation & jurisprudence* ; Medical Errors/legislation & jurisprudence*

Schizophrenia is the most common in forensic psychiatry. The motive, the style and the consequence of any schizophrene's misdeed have its own particularity. So schizophrenia is significant in the forensic practice. The characteristics of schizophrene's misdeed and the peace breaker's responsibility, competence to stand trial and to serve a sentence werereviewed.
Crime/psychology* ; Expert Testimony/standards* ; Forensic Psychiatry/standards* ; Humans ; Liability, Legal ; Mental Competency/legislation & jurisprudence* ; Schizophrenia

Expert Testimony ; Humans ; Malpractice ; legislation & jurisprudence

Dentists ; legislation & jurisprudence ; Discriminant Analysis ; Dissent and Disputes ; legislation & jurisprudence ; Expert Testimony ; legislation & jurisprudence ; Humans ; Liability, Legal ; Malpractice ; legislation & jurisprudence ; Quality Control

Dentists ; legislation & jurisprudence ; Dissent and Disputes ; Expert Testimony ; Humans ; Liability, Legal

An informed consent is a document signed by the patient or the patient's legal guardian(s) that signifies the acceptance that the patient will undertake a specific medical treatment suggested and explained by the health care provider(s). Recently, there have been an increasing number of circumstances where obtaining an informed consent is mandatory. However, a standard form and required content of the informed consent, as well as laws, regulations, and analyses regarding the concept of informed consent are not available. This article introduces an observation of the legal force of informed consent forms that are used in practice, and of the legal issues in connection with them.
Consent Forms ; Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Informed Consent* ; Jurisprudence ; Medical Records ; Social Control, Formal

Expert Testimony, Jurisprudence

Experimental studies involve intervention and manipulation of study elements such as randomization of the participating groups. In general, experimental studies involving human are riskier than observational studies, demanding robust ethical vigilance and compliance among such stakeholders as investigators, sponsors, IRBs and health authorities. Social values of research should be counted as a primary ethical consideration in experimental research. It is unethical to put human subjects into uncertain and risky conditions if the study does not pursue valuable knowledge. Sound scientific design is prerequisite for good ethics. Risk-benefit ratio of the study must be carefully evaluated study. Not only risks from physical harms but also socio-economical and psychological harms from the study should be considered as risk of the study. Risks from the design of the study such as randomization and placebo must be carefully examined. Voluntary informed consent is essential in experimental studies involving human. Human subjects, before they decide to participate in the study, must be informed the followings: risks, benefits, experimental procedures, alternative treatment, compensation for injury, and participants' voluntariness and right to withdraw at anytime. Experimental studies are usually required written consent documentation and full institutional review board (IRB) review. Other elements of experimental research ethics includes special protection for high risk groups and various vulnerable groups, and protection of privacy and confidentiality.
Bioethics* ; Compensation and Redress ; Compliance ; Confidentiality ; Consent Forms ; Ethics ; Ethics Committees, Research ; Ethics, Research ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Privacy ; Random Allocation ; Research Personnel ; Social Values