According to the democratization in every field of our society, there have been some changes in the social valuation on medical care, such as the commutation of former medical paternalism into patient sovereignty. Now, patient is not a mere
object
of
medical care any more, but a subject participating in medical practice on equal terms with physician.
Recently we have met some new trends in the judgments concerning medical malpractice, which include emphasizing physician's explanation duty in order to materialize patient's right of self-determination, looking upon duty to intruct patient on
home
care
as an element of physician's duty to care in medical practice, presuming the undesirable results to the due to physician's fault as a viewpoint of adjusting the maldistribution of medical information, and taking patient's fault into consideration
positively in deciding the existence or amount of physician's indemnity duty.
The above trends show the will of court to solve the medical dispute rationally, and are regarded as appropriate for the moment. But they may lead the inclination of the atrophy or evasion of medical care, so we should establish the systematic
back-up
such as medical malpractice insurance or medical dispute conciliation fund.
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