Differentiation of Adverse Outcomes in Medical Practice: Moral and Legal Aspects (Russian Health System Set as an Example)

Abstract

The article substantiates the need for strict differentiation of such definitions as ‘medical error’, ‘direct harm’, ‘iatrogenism’, ‘indirect harm’, ‘accident’; their criterion determination and legal status, since the harmful consequences of treatment are one of the main threats to both individual and public health throughout the world. The problemanalysis is based on transdisciplinarity, a methodology that studies the problem at various levels of reality, taken as a whole. This methodology contributes to the penetration of interdisciplinary methods and knowledge, allows you to form new motivation about the issues under consideration, to systematize, to transfer existing knowledge to new situations, to combine the known and reveal new facts. The study revealed ambiguity in the interpretations of various kinds of definitions of unfavorable outcomes, which leads to problems of differentiating these concepts. The article proposes a criterion for differentiating unfavorable outcomes in medical practice, based on the actions of the physician, which differ depending on the physician’s adherence to generally accepted professional requirements or deviations from them. Adverse outcomes resulting from a physician’s departure from generally accepted professional requirements should be subject to legal liability. The study of the analyzed issues also revealed the absence of such categories as ‘medical error’ and‘iatrogeny’ in the law field as well as any regulations of these actions. The article concludes that the use of transdisciplinary methodology contributes to the formation of new knowledge that is capable of meeting modern requirements and its application in practice.