| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 法律學研究所 === 97 === In most medical cases, two trends have been observed: on one hand, “duty of disclosure of medical information” plays a more significant role; on the other hand, most people turn to tort liability rather than contract liability when claiming their rights despite the fact that in Taiwan contract liability and tort liability are collateral in most medical cases. What makes such a difference? Is it because the content and scope of the liabilities are different from each other? Or is it because the legal effects, such as the rights protected, the measurement of injury compensation, burden of the proof, and extinctive prescription, are different?
The issues show evidently in the selected two cases. In both cases, the defendants stressed that “ as a debtor, it is not their duty to inform patients about some major symptoms which are not included in the contracts.” However, is it really fair that doctors could pay no attention to some major symptoms only because it is not written in the contract? Is the duty of disclosure of medical information an implied obligation in medical contracts? If no medical contract exits, is there still room for us to recognize the duty of disclosure of medical information, maybe induced from tort liability?
This thesis starts with the origin of contract liability and tort liability, and by discussing the nature of this two kind of civil liability, which is “reliance relationship”, as far as I am concerned, to further explore and define the content and scope of the duty of disclosure in medical information in doctor-patient relationship. In this way, I will have a better chance to deal with questions mentioned above. In addition, since the duty of disclosure of medical information is a relatively new obligation, it is also a good opportunity for me to try to draw a fine line between patients’ right and doctors’ responsibility. Finally, I will also keep an eye on the procedural effects, such as the rights protected, the measurement of injury compensation, burden of proof and extinctive prescription, to figure out if there is any significant distinction between contract liability and tort liability as far as the duty of disclosure of medical information is concerned.
In a word, through this thesis, I would like to make a more relatively accurate definition and a clearer scope for the duty of disclosure of medical information, and to figure out whether there should be a stark distinction between contract liability and tort liability. Hope it will help all people to access the courts more easily, and help the courts to better apply the law, and distribute the responsibilities between doctors and patients more properly in the same time.
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