Jo Samanta and Ash Samanta (eds), Clinical Guidelines and the Law of Medical Negligence—Multidisciplinary and International Perspectives

Abstract

The assessment of the standard of care required within medical negligence has ‘made the medical profession truly unique’ because the medical profession was ‘essentially allowed to define their own legal standards and, to all intents and purposes, regulate themselves’ (José Miola, Preface, x). This book, through contributions from authors of both legal and medical backgrounds, adds to this debate as it discusses the interaction between clinical guidelines, law, lawyers, medicine, and the medical profession (xi). Furthermore, there is an exploration of other jurisdictions which provides further viewpoints, and opportunities for comparative analysis. The book comprises of ten substantive chapters, which are buttressed by an introduction and conclusion both written by the editors. It is essentially a book of two halves. The first four chapters provide a critique of how clinical guidelines have been used in case law. The fifth chapter forms a link by considering the interface between clinical guidelines and health care ethics. The next four chapters consider the use of clinical guidelines from a professional perspective: a barrister, a solicitor, an anaesthetist, and an orthopaedic surgeon. In the tenth and final substantive chapter, Samanta and Samanta consider guidelines in medical negligence litigation from an international perspective. The concluding chapter attempts to propose a framework to assist the court when applying clinical guidelines in litigation (p 5).