Duty of treatment and duty of care, and scope of insurance coverage in medical liability insurance

Abstract

The subject of this publication is the duty of treatment and the duty of care, a breach of which may lead to civil liability of a physician. These duties are considered from the point of view of their scope, meaning for the responsible entity and for the insurer under civil liability insurance. The duty of care is no less important. It applies to the entire diagnostic and therapeutic process, both to the action and omission of a physician, individual medical procedures, the use of current medical knowledge, the use of medical devices or medicinal products. The point is to exercise care and diligence required of a professional (art. 355 § 2 of the [Polish] Civil Code). There is no doubt that a breach of the dutyof treatment or the duty of care falls under the scope of insurance cover in civil liability insurance. The problem arises,however, when a certain action or omission of the doctor leads to an infringement of the patient's right, but no personal injury occurs.Then, it has not been clearly resolved whether the mere breach of the obligation of treatment leads to the liability of the civil liability insurer. This issue is gaining more and more practical meaning.