A duty of care is an obligation on one party to take care to prevent harm being suffered by another...outside a hospital or a doctor's surgery, a doctor wld not normally owe a duty of care if he did not attempt to help. In other words, doctors are not legally obliged to act as 'good Samaritans'. However, once a doctor stops and either says he is a doctor, or starts to act as though he is a doctor, he has taken on a duty of care to the patient. This means that she is now potentially liable in negligence (ie can be sued).
Wow!!! After reading this off a medicolegal article, I would now rather people not know that I'm in the medical profession least I get sued for being helpful...
But is that ethical?
Is that Bibilcal?
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Luke 10:27
*shhh...I am not a doc...*
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Hmm this is very worth pondering over... We've come to this stage where patients have to be protected from "doctors" and doctors have to be protected from "patients", thus this law thing I guess. How would you choose?
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