It is an established historical fact that the art of treating patients is very old, necessitated by the need to preserve life and enjoy its blessings. Thus, it has existed since the earliest ages, beginning as a speculative and conjectural art until it evolved into the realm of science in modern times.

Medical liability can be found in the most ancient codes of law. In the Code of Hammurabi, Article (219) states: 'If a physician performs a major operation on a free man with a bronze lancet and causes his death, or opens a tumor on the eye of a free man with a bronze lancet and destroys his eye, they shall cut off his hand.' Article (220) of the same code holds the physician accountable if he causes the death of a slave, requiring him to compensate the slave's master for the loss.

Following this period, medicine took on a religious character as its practice was confined to priests across all its branches. Consequently, medical liability began to atrophy and dissolve. The reason for this decline is that when civilization deteriorates, ignorance prevails, and superstitions dominate people's minds, priests and sorcerers monopolize the art of healing, mixing it with no small amount of quackery, magic, and charlatanism. This noble art thus acquires a distinct religious veneer that places its practitioners beyond blame, reproach, or accountability. If the priest succeeded in treating the patient and brought them to safety and recovery, it was considered a grace and favor. If he failed in his treatment, the failure was not attributed to the physician but rather to the decrees of God and the ordinances of fate, for His judgment is irreversible and every term has its appointed time.

• ISBN: 9789957164829
• Weight: 0.900
• Size: 17×24 cm
• Paper: White
• Pages: 496
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Binding: Hardcover