Legal imperatives of medical negligence and malpractice in Nigeria

1. LEGAL IMPERATIVES OF MEDICAL
NEGLIGENCE AND MALPRATICE IN
NIGERIA
By
Hassan King Obaro
MBBS, PGD (HIV/AIDS), Advanced Diploma (Law)

2. Outlines
• Introduction
• Common Acts that could lead to Negligence
• Proof of Medical Negligence
• Legal options for Victims
• Conclusion
• Recommendation
• References

3. Introduction
• Medical negligence constitutes an act or omission by a medical
practitioner, that falls below the acceptable standard of care resulting
to injury or death of the patient (Chukwuneke, 2015)
• Even though English common law had long imposed liability for the
wrongful acts of others, it was only until the first half of the 19th
century when the industrial revolution occasioned a series of accidents
caused by industrial machinery, that negligence began to gain
recognition as a separate and independent basis of tort liability (Obot,
2019)
• A tort liability is a legal responsibility of one party to a victim as a
result of a civil wrong or injury (Obot, 2019)

4. Intro Cont’d
• Medical negligence and malpractice are tortious liabilities which can
also result in criminal liability.
• It is a fact that medical practice will sometimes give rise to situations
where health seekers suffer some harm or injury in the course of
treatment by the medical practitioner.

5. Common Acts that could lead to Negligence
1. Doctor not available at duty post,
2. Doctor’s illegible and sloppy handwriting,
3. Prescription and medication errors,
4. Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose,
5. Improper medical treatment,
6. Leaving surgical instruments in patients after surgery,
7. Lack of informed consent,
8. Failure to refer a patient to a specialist,
9. Breach of confidentiality,
10. Extortion and deception among others

6. Proof of Medical Negligence
• For liability to arise in negligence, it is imperative that the three core
elements of negligence must be established and proved beyond reasonable
doubt.
• The core elements of Medical Negligence includes;
1. duty of care,
2. breach of that duty,
3. and that damage or injury was suffered as a direct result of a breach of the
duty owed.
• However, failure to successfully establish a claim of negligence does not
completely exonerate a medical practitioner from liability for malpractices
or errors under other aspects of the law, the fact that negligence cannot be
proved will not leave a patient without other legal options as may be
deemed appropriate.

7. Legal options for Victims
1. Professional Body Disciplinary Approach
• A patient can institute professional discipline against an erring doctor by
filing a complaint at the Medical and Dental council of Nigeria which is the
regulatory body for the medical profession.
• Its investigation panel which is established under section 15(3) of the
Medical and Dental practitioners’Act, has the responsibility of conducting
preliminary investigation into allegations and where a prima facie case is
established against the practitioner, he would be charged before the Medical
and Dental practitioners disciplinary tribunal which itself is established by
section 15(1) of the Medical and Dental practitioners’Act.
• By section 16(2) of the Act, the disciplinary tribunal may order the registrar
to strike off the name of a Medical practitioner from the register if found
guilty or to suspend him from medical practice for a period not exceeding
six months.

8. Legal Options Cont’d
2. Criminal negligence
• Apart from civil liabilities, a medical practitioners’ action may also
result in commission of a crime giving rise to criminal liability.
Liability may arise for instance for malpractices such as extortion and
deception, also criminal assault or for causing grievous bodily harm.
• A patient can however approach a court of competent jurisdiction to
seek redress.
• This view was given expression by the Privy Council in the Nigerian
case of R. V. Akerele (supra) where the court held that the degree of
negligence required in criminal cases must go beyond that for civil
liability.

9. Legal Options Cont’d
3. Other options especially in cases where negligence cannot be
proved.
• Breach of Contract
• Breach of Fundamental Human Right

10. Conclusion
• Medical Negligence and Malpractices are becoming growing concern
in Nigeria, even though many victims do not know how to go about
seeking redress or demand justice, medical practitioners too, do not
understand the legal implications of their actions and inactions.

11. Recommendation
• Medical practitioners need to be aware of their limit as well as the
legal implications of their work, this can be achieved by incorporating
medico-legal study into medical education for medical students, as
well as periodic medico-legal lectures for medical practitioners.
• Even though the law protects the medical practitioner to the extent that
liability for medical negligence and medical malpractice must be
proved beyond reasonable doubt, much more legal protection is
needed, in form of legislation, to allow medical practitioners discharge
their duties of saving lives.

12. References
• Adejumo, O. A., & Adejumo, O. A. (2020). Legal perspectives on
liability for medical negligence and malpractices in Nigeria. The Pan
African Medical Journal, 35.
• Akerele R.V (1941) 8 WACA 56.
• Chukwuneke FN. Medical Incidents in Developing Countries: A few
case studies from Nigeria. Niger J Clin Pract. 2015;18(7):20-24.
• Obot E. O. (2019). The snake is in court: Bringing a lawsuit against a
doctor for medical negligence.

13. THANKS FOR LISTENING