Australian Medical Liability

Whilst there remains a substantive role for the common law, the authors have recognised the importance of the civil liability legislation and have used the legislation as a foundation and framework for their analysis of the Australian legal framework relevant to the civil liability of medical and like practitioners.

Important Features:
· Comprehensive - focuses on and addresses only medical liability in the context of the various Australian jurisdictions.
· The Australian Civil Liability Acts are used as a foundation for analysis.
· Written by lawyers who practice in medical liability, for lawyers who practice in medical liability.

Review:

Australian Medical Liability, by Bill Madden and Janine McIlwraith, is a new book which has a somewhat different focus to other health law texts. As opposed to focusing upon health law from any of a holistic, issues-based or health care professional-based perspective, it is very much a handbook for both prosecuting, and defending medical negligence claims. Besides lawyers, the authors also hope it will be of interest to medical practitioners, law students and medical students seeking to understand how medical liability fits in a civil liability legislation environment.

The book addresses issues in medical negligence claims in the same way that a medical negligence lawyer would, sequentially canvassing duties of care, breach of duty and causation. Importantly, clear distinctions are drawn between 'informed consent' and 'treatment' cases, particularly as civil liability legislation impacts differently upon those two classes. Of particular interest are the discussions upon the developing areas of duties owed to third parties (such as those affected by a patient's actions or injuries), duties to disclose errors and loss of a chance of a better outcome.

The book's primary strengths are its comparisons of civil liability provisions in various States and Territories (including their underlying recommendations in the Ipp Report) and its detailing of many medical negligence decisions over last 10 years. These are helpfully categorised into different contexts, including types of duties owed and circumstances of breach of duty in treatment cases.

Australian Medical Liability is a thoughtful, through and useful addition to the bookshelf of any medical negligence lawyer, or others working regularly in the field. It is also a thorough primer for both law students and others unfamiliar with medical negligence law.

Timothy Bowen
DIBBS BARKER