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Stomatologia 1998, 55(3):108-115
Review
CIVIL LIABILITY OF THE DENTIST ACCORDING TO THE GREEK LAW
K. FOUDEDAKI, A. HATZIKYRIAKOS
SUMMARY Nowadays doctors and dentists ought to be updated on the legislation and juriprudence relating to medical liability which is in force in Greece and generally in the European Union as there is a considerable increase in the number of patients who bring charges against their attendant doctors and dentists. According to this legislation, a doctor or dentist who commits a "medical error" on purpose or by negligence, and thus causes damage to his patient, apart from his responsibility according to criminal laws, is also liable to compensation. In this case, as a recent greek law provides, it is the doctor who should prove that he has not violated the rules of medical science and praxis. Regardless to the obvious existence of the medical error, a question always arises whether this error has contributed to this particular damage, granted that the damage may be due to other causes. Another problem arises from the interpretation of the legislation referring to the determination of the causal relation between the medical act and the damage which interpretation may bring either the attendant doctor or the patient to an awkward position. On the other hand, a valid consent of the patient to any kind of treatment is necessary and it implies the full patient's information about the treatment and its risks. The breach of this obligation by the attendant doctor entails that the treatment is regarded as a tort and also that, if there are any entanglements or damage, then the attendant doctor is liable to restore it, whether it is due to a medical error or not.
KEY WORDS: Liability, Dentist, Patient, Medical error.
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