The development of medicine brought mankind an improvement in the quality of life, extended its average life span, envisaged the cure or relief for many illness... » 

The development of medicine brought mankind an improvement in the quality of life, extended its average life span, envisaged the cure or relief for many illnesses and trod great steps in the repair of injury suffered by persons. Such was the magnitude of the progress of medicine that citizens of developed countries began to believe that there is indeed a cure possible for all ailments they might suffer. As medicine became more advanced, effective and technologically sophisticated, and as welfare societies became widespread, the activity level of treatment providers increased exponentially. As a result, mishaps became more frequent and the magnitude of their consequences higher. Thus, issues related to the quality of health care reached the spotlight of public opinion and public pressure. Medical treatment nowadays has a vast potential to prevent, cure and relieve illness and injury, if treatment proceeds smoothly. However, there are risks involved in medical treatment: when it goes wrong, the patient can suffer serious personal injury, illness and even death. The consequences of a medical mishap, regardless of its negligent or accidental nature, can be dramatic for the patient. This book analyses the legal regime of medical liability in England/Wales, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and France, which can be systematised in three compensation models: negligence, no-fault patient insurance and the French dualistic model. The evaluation of the comparative advantages and disadvantages of those models of compensation of medical treatment is afterwards used to propose a roadmap for the reform of medical liability. «