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Medical Malpractice: A Challenge to Alternative Dispute Resolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

Chester N. Mitchell  and
Shona McDiarmid
Chester N. Mitchell
Affiliation:
Department of Law, Carleton University
Shona McDiarmid
Affiliation:
Ottawa Law Review
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Extract

Ideally, medical malpractice actions should deter medical negligence and compensate victims in a manner that is fair, speedy, cost-effective and accessible. Tort critics, however, argue that tort law in general and malpractice actions in particular do not match this ideal. But there is considerable debate about whether the identified faults are inherent or optional in tort adjudication. Those who believe adjudication itself is faulty propose alternative strategies including no-fault compensation schemes, public law prosecution and arbitration. In the paper's first section we consider whether the performance of the traditional adversarial system of dispute resolution in medical malpractice cases is inadequate. Arbitration's effectiveness as an alternative to litigation is then evaluated with reference to three arbitration models employed in the United States. We conclude that arbitration reforms offer distinct advantages but are no panacea for some basic justice problems that stem from political, legal and economic power imbalances between physicians and their clients.

Type
Comments/Commentaires
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 3 , 1988 , pp. 227 - 245
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 1988

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References

Notes

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