Citation

Childs M. Legal Stud. 1999; 19(3): 316-338.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Society of Legal Scholars, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1748-121X.1999.tb00098.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Recent years have seen a rise in the number of manslaughter prosecutions following deaths caused by improper medical treatment. Such prosecutions of individual doctors are problematic because, in many cases, a complex pattern of failures has contributed to the death. One alternative approach would be that of pursuing corporate manslaughter prosecutions against hospital trusts, but current law makes such prosecutions difficult. The Law Commission's proposed offence of corporate killing could, if adopted, form the basis of prosecutions following some hospital deaths. The article considers arguments for and against the use of criminal law in response to deaths caused by medical negligence.

Language: en