Medicine and Justice Symposium Held in Istanbul
At the symposium attended by the ministers of health and justice, legal responsibilities arising from medical practices, patient rights, and physician guarantees were discussed.
The legal rights of physicians and patients, the legal framework of medical practices, and the guarantees of healthcare workers were addressed at the Medicine and Justice Symposium held in Istanbul.
The two-day Medicine and Justice Symposium titled "Medical Practices from the Perspective of Physicians and Judges" in Istanbul was attended by Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek, Minister of Health Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu, President of the Council of State Zeki Yiğit, President of the Court of Cassation Ömer Kerkez, President of the Constitutional Court Kadir Özkaya, and unit managers of both ministries. During the program, medical practices in the context of criminal lawsuits, the general legal framework of medical practices, compensation liability, and the reflection of professional liability on physicians were evaluated.
Minister of Health Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu announced that patient and employee rights will be united under a single roof and that preparations for the electronic consent regulation have reached the final stage. Emphasizing secure access to healthcare services, the protection of patient rights, and the strengthening of professional guarantees for healthcare workers, Memişoğlu stated that scientific data must be taken as the basis in legal evaluations regarding medical practices, and said, "The distinction between a medical intervention failing to produce the expected result and the presence of a fault that creates legal responsibility must be evaluated meticulously."
Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek emphasized that violence directed at healthcare workers is their red line, stating that patient rights and the legal guarantees of physicians must be protected together. Gürlek also wished mercy for the citizens who lost their lives in disasters caused by heavy rainfall, particularly in Istanbul and Sakarya, over the past three days.