The Patient-surgeon Relationship. Part II: Medical Fidelity as Morality and Law

Abstract

This paper is the second part of the discussion on the patient-surgeon relationship. Part I of the article argues that medical fidelity is the most fundamental ethical principle that regulates the medical profession, mandating doctors and surgeons to put their patients' interests ahead of other persons' interests, including their own. Part II of the article argues that implementation of professional standards, particularly the code of medical fidelity needs to be done with the assistance of effective legal forces. The paper first discusses the important elements of a contract, and shows why the contractual approach to regulating the patient-surgeon relationship is inadequate for the task. It then reviews the nature and attributes of the concept of the fiduciary relationship and shows why the fiduciary model fits the descriptions of the complex patient-surgeon relationship. Citing several famous court cases, the paper supports the argument that the fiduciary approach provides the most suitable model for the protection of patients against medical infidelity and other abuses by members of the medical profession.