從醫療糾紛處理急醫療事故補償法草案省思法院與病人安全之互動關係

The proposed Medical Dispute Act reflected a concerted effort to introduce the ideas of the patient safety movement (PSM) to the Taiwanese legal system. The fact that it failed to clear the legislative process, the paper argues, actually presents a precious opportunity for the Taiwanese society to re-examine in more depth how these ideas could and should be incorporated into the legal system. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the following subject areas relevant to the legalization of PSM ideas, including: 1) protection of information; 2) early discovery of truth; and 3) the doctrine of negligence liability. The existing literature typically focuses on the first subject area, in particular on the concept of apology laws, i.e., whether apologetic or sympathetic remarks offered by medical professionals can become evidence in the court. Other legal issues that have tremendous significance to the pursuit of patient safety, however, are often overlooked, which include: 1) peer-review privilege, 2) the establishment of early truth-finding mechanisms, and 3) alternative construction of the doctrine of negligence liability. This paper argues that serious investigation of these heretofore underappreciated topics will help lay a healthy foundation for the next round of legislative discussion over how to overhaul the medical malpractice dispute resolution system in Taiwan.