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Defence of the doctoral dissertation „Damage Caused to Patients: Problematic Aspects”

Date and time:26 May 2021,

1:00 p.m. — 3:00 p.m.

Place:Microsoft Teams platform
Language:Lithuania/English

Monika Morkūnaitė will be defending the dissertation „Damage Caused to Patients: Problematic Aspects” on 26th May, 2021. The dissertation was prepared at Vilnius university Faculty of Law and shall be defended on an external basis.

The doctoral dissertation examines problematic aspects of compensation for the damage suffered by patients. On 18 July 2019, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania adopted amendments to the Law on the Rights of Patients and Compensation for the Damage to their Health and related secondary legislation whereby implemented a no-fault system to compensate for the damage caused to patients.

In the context of this recent development, the doctoral dissertation assesses these amendments, analyses existence of pre-requisites for further application of civil liability, and identifies the system based on which the damage suffered by the patients should be compensated. The key focus of the research is on the damage compensation relying on the application of civil liability. In the light of the case-law of Lithuania, the application of civil liability to healthcare institutions is examined. Particular attention is given to the elaboration of problematic issues concerning the professional standard of care, causal link, and compensation for pecuniary damages.

Problematic issues of damage compensation are analysed with the aim of balancing (1) the efficient and full compensation for the damage suffered by patients, (2) the necessity to take into account the objective abilities of health professionals and/or healthcare institutions to provide health care services without imposing unreasonable and disproportionate requirements on them, and (3) the public interest to have available and high-quality health care services.