NEWSLETTER-2019-metin

219 LAW OF OBLIGATIONS Legal Liability of Doctors* Att. Idil Uz Introduction As in any legal relationship, there is a debtor and creditor rela- tionship between the doctor and the patient. In this legal relationship, the doctor is obliged to undertake the promised medical intervention, and the patient is obliged to pay the agreed fee to the doctor. Within the scope of this relationship, the doctor’s legal and criminal liabil- ity may arise in the event of any harm suffered by the patient due to misconduct or negligence. Within the scope of this legal liability, the doctor would be obliged to indemnify the patient’s pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages in proportion to his/her fault and negligence. In order to resolve a dispute in this regard, firstly, the relationship between the parties shall be determined, and the facts of the dispute are to be revealed. There is no legal regulation in Turkish law that determines the le- gal basis of medical interventions. However, in order to determine the legal basis of the relationship, certain criteria have been determined through the jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation. Bearing the facts of the factual incidents, the relationship between the doctor and the patient could be subject to the provisions of contract for work, proxy contract, or contract for service. The aforesaid relationship could vary upon the method or the place of the treatment. Pursuant to the estab- lished jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation, it is accepted that in- terventions, where a result is guaranteed, are subject to the provisions of contracts for work, whereas treatments made for healing purposes are subject to the provisions of proxy contracts. For instance, pursuant to the Court of Cassation, the difference between contracts for work and treatment contracts is related to the guarantee of the outcome and, * Article of October 2019