Organisationsverschulden patientenferner Entscheider und einrichtungsbezogene Aufklärung

The increase in infrastructure-related medical errors in recent years is a side effect of the economic approach to medicine. Characteristic for the prevention loss of criminal law is the incongruence between economic and legal responsibility of the decision makers in hospitals and private practices. So far, the doctors carry the sole risk of prosecution, although they can often only be blamed for taking over the treatment. This unbalanced responsibility is not prescribed by law, but is the result of a too narrow interpretation of the law by the investigating authorities.

Responsible heads and direct practitioners can avoid civil and criminal liability by timely elucidation of their patients on weak infrastructure. According to settled case law of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), though it makes no difference to elucidate patients on the mere possibility of treatment failure, however, elucidation is valid if it is already certain to undercut the medical standard.