Out-of-Court Models of Compensation for Medical Damage in Selected European Union States – Searching for an Optimal Solution

Abstract

The article is devoted to the non-judicial models of medical damage compensation adopted in individual European systems. The Author begins her considerations by indicating the reasons for the introduction of simplified models precisely in the field of liability for damage caused to a patient in connection with the treatment. She indicates their common features and basic differences. Then, according to the division adopted, she presents the Scandinavian model of patient insurance protection based on first-party insurance, the French insurance model supported by the subsidiary liability of the state based on national solidarity, and quasi-insurance models assuming the possibility of satisfying patients’ claims from separate funds. In the latter case, she presents Austrian and English solutions. In the last part of the article, the Author presents Polish regulations and the basic principles of conducting proceedings by the Provincial Commissions for Adjudication of Medical Events, pointing to its fundamental flaws. She proves that the proposal to liquidate the current model and replace it with a new one, which is a compilation of various solutions used in Europe, may not lead to the expected effect – effective indemnity of medical damage. On the contrary, a defective solution may be replaced by a new equally defective one. Therefore, the Author indicates what actions should be taken to obtain an optimal and, above all, effective system of compensation for medical damage.