Medical Responsibility and Liability in Italy

Abstract

The first section of the chapter discusses, from the Italian perspective, both the physician’s responsibility as a ‘contractual liability’ and the liability for defects in health care outside of the professional activity of a doctor or other healthcare professional. The second section concerns epidemiological data, focusing on the increase in professional liability cases in Italy and errors in the diagnostic, prognostic, or therapeutic phases. The third section provides an overview of the normative and judicial situation in Italy in terms of criminal and civil medical responsibility, while the fourth section deals with ‘Nomofilattica’ and professional medical liability. The fifth section outlines the methods of ascertainment as well as the evaluation criteria in living persons and cadavers. The chapter ends with a discussion on the future perspectives of medical liability within the Italian context.