الحق في الحياة في ظل الأخطاء الطبية

Abstract

The right to life is one of the main principles advocated by international standards governing the right Individuals in life, which is considered one of the most important political rights that guarantee the right of members of society to life, therefore, the majority of societies, regardless of their political and economic systems, seek to preserve this right and its guarantee to all members of society. Hence, the doctor’s responsibility for his professional error has become extremely sensitive, perhaps because he does not receive sufficient attention in terms of application on the ground in reality, or because doctors are ignorant of the limits of the responsibilities that result from their work, they suffer pain and discomfort when they fall into them unintentionally. Medical errors have been a concern for ancient legislators, but with the passage of time, the approach to dealing with doctors has changed, and the rules of criminal and civil liability have been neglected on the basis that illness occurs only by fate. In contrast, Islamic law did not adopt this harmful philosophy. There is no doubt that Allah is the one who heals the sick, but when a doctor works and then commits an unforgivable mistake, it is he who has done wrong and must bear the responsibility for his work, not place it on others. The amazing medical progress has had some disadvantages that are practically inevitable. The number of doctors has increased greatly in some countries, medicine has moved from the stage of family medicine to the stage of group medicine, which makes patients hesitate to go to court when they are harmed due to the doctor’s error. This has led to the emergence of a reality that must be taken into consideration when determining the criminal liability resulting from medical error. For this reason, states have tended to guarantee this right and consider it one of the basic rights in constitutions, and global conventions such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, and other agreements that addressed this right have followed in the same direction.