The onus probandi inversion in characterizing medical error by the Brazilian Law

Abstract

Medical  error   (malpractice)   represents   one   of  the   most   exciting themes   concerning   the judiciary status of medicine. In Brazil, more than  ten years after the elaboration  of the Consumer  Protection  Code, can  be  seen  an  enormous  increase  in lawsuits trials regarding medical errors. The onus probandi  inversion, a normative divice resulting from changes  at the  Brazilian Law and  by the 1988 Constitution,  is certainly a juridical,  political  and  social  gain.  From  professional  ethics  point  of  view, the  normative mechanism  interferes  directly a social institution  that  must  be preserved:  the  physician-patient relationship.  The physician-patient   relationship  consists  of  a social institution,  which historically defined  physician´s   social role not  just as a service renderer,  but  as the  one  that  is not  only legally licensed, but technically able and social legitimated  to exercise the art of medicine.