The Development of Medical Liability in Germany, 1800–1945

Abstract

This volume examines the development of medical liability in Germany during its intense formative period from 1800–1945. It focuses on how the fault requirement in civil law was conceptualised and applied to liability for errors in the diagnosis and treatment of a patient. By focusing on the development of the law, and how it related and responded to changes in the nature of medicine, medical practitioners and healthcare over this period, it uncovers a rich interaction between the legal and medical narratives concerning fault. It offers an account of legal development where the law and lawyers were deeply embedded in, and influenced by, the broader social context, identifying a gradual shift towards asserting the independence of courts from accepted medical narrative in the light of technological advances.