Les ajustements de la technique médicale face aux règles de droit

Abstract

During the 1990s, partly as a result of accusations of medical malpractice, doctors’ obligations were reinforced; and patients’ rights, recognized. In a lawsuit brought on the grounds of liability, the doctor and his/her qualifications are accused; and the doctor's identity and sense of professional honor, affected. This has serious risks for medical practices and, more broadly, medicine. This research based on interviews with doctors shows that the specialty, type of practice and nature of the establishment expose doctors to more or fewer risks and thus partly determine how they adjust techniques to cope with the risks of a lawsuit. The professional identity (including the values and practices to which interviewees referred) and the consciousness of their symbolic status (related to the place and type of practice) are keys for understanding practitioners’ behaviors. Assuming that a doctor's sense of professional identity is shaped by his/her sense of responsibility, relations with patients and concern for achievement, it is hypothesized that these three dimensions and their possible combinations explain the adjustments, or lack thereof, made by doctors.