The Medical Liability and the Value of Life in the Ancient Times Discussion
Somville, Broos, & Van Hee (2010) state that the ethical aspects of the healthcare delivery was prevalent in ancient times. It is evidenced from the presence of medical liability across various civilizations across the span of human history. The interpretations on the subject and possible solutions varied across the ages. The modern day functioning of the medical sector reflects the influences of these ancient policies. Some of the trustworthy sources of such legal writings identified hold their origin in the Greek philosophy and the Roman law.
The extensive research performed by the authors of the article provides a comprehensive description of the compensatory mechanisms adopted under the reign of Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The information laid down in the literary work is refutable and could be verified from the historical texts. Some of the examples of medical liability laws include the Code of Hammurabi, the Lex Romana, and Actio Infactum. The writers conclude that the laws were proportionate to the degree of civilization, and have been instrumental in determination of the fate of a physician from the prospective of civil liability, and is noticeable until this day.
The texts from the article suggest that human life was valued in ancient times, and any medical errors done were taken very seriously. The articles of the Code of Hammurabi, for instance implicated an equal suffering for the surgeon as that had been incurred by him to the patient. Religion had considerable influence on medicine. This could be inferred from the claims of Siculus and Aristotle who refute that the rules of medical liability were written down in medical manuscripts, and were held in the temple. The circulating ideas pertaining to the mythological figures of the ancient times, and societal and cultural perception of free men and slaves were important in the development of etiological factors of an illness, and the possible treatment modalities. The seriousness of the rules has been conferred again from the accounts of these ancient philosophers acknowledging that the physicians were assumed to treat the patients by abiding to the laid down rules in the manuscripts of the temple. Any wrong doings by the physician which resulted from ignoring the rulings could lead to receiving a death penalty by them.
Plato and Aristotle have written extensively on the subject of medical liability. In one or the other form, they have tried to keep the stature of the physician high above and have argued to provide medical immunity to the specialist healer. It points out that the advancements in medicine were subjected to hindrances by the general beliefs of the society, laws, religion, and ignorance of those who had the authority to rule the public. The suggestion proposed by Aristotle that a physician’s performance must be judged by another person having similar skills finds its reflection in the way western society investigates a doctor’s medical liability. Philosophical interpretation of individual cases could be suggestive of …
