Since medicine emerged as a humane and scientific profession, humanity has recognized its numerous and diverse benefits, which has driven its development, care, and exploration of its inner workings and secrets. It has evolved and progressed due to its strong connection with technological and scientific advancements.

Medicine is founded on customs and traditions that compel those who wish to practice it to do so with a spirit of ethics and humanity, respecting individual life and the sanctity of the body. They must strive to preserve people's lives, honor, and secrets. If they stray from the noble ethics of the profession and commit an ethical error, they are held morally responsible before their conscience, God, and the law. However, if they deviate from the established and followed medical standards that bind all physicians under the umbrella of medical liability, these standards take on the force of binding legal rules, and any departure from them constitutes an error that warrants accountability.

History has revealed through successive ages the human practice of medicine and the concept of medical liability, which has evolved with the advent of modern technology and its application in the medical field. This has led to an increase in risks and more adverse effects from the use of harmful substances (like anesthetics, chemical drugs, etc.) and advanced equipment (lasers, X-rays, etc.). Consequently, this has increased the number of lawsuits filed to claim compensation for damages caused by these means.

Undoubtedly, the subject of civil medical liability is of great practical importance, yet it is also intricate and complex. In the past, medicine was associated with superstition and sorcery, with a primitive belief that illness was caused by demons, leading to the use of rudimentary treatment methods. Practices were limited to various rituals to exorcise demons from the patient's body to achieve healing. The priest or sorcerer performing these rituals was above any responsibility, as the patient's death was interpreted as the demon's victory. Later, ancient civilizations recognized medicine as a profession, with varied practices. They left behind engraved documents indicating the use of medicinal herbs and various drugs. These civilizations also acknowledged the physician's responsibility if they failed to adhere to the sacred texts that mandated professional ethics. If a physician followed the texts but their actions resulted in a patient's death, they were not held accountable. With the spread of wars in the Middle Ages, medical liability evolved and was initially characterized by severity. If a physician made an error and the patient was a slave, the physician would pay the master the slave's price. If the patient was a free person and the harm was not fatal, the physician's hand would be cut off. If the intervention resulted in death, the punishment was hanging. This situation led many physicians to abandon the profession. Gradually, the punishments were moderated with the emergence of medical schools and legislation to regulate the profession. The Arabs also made significant contributions to medicine and were divided into two groups: priests and soothsayers who treated with magic and sorcery, and true physicians who treated with drugs, in which they excelled. They were credited with clarifying many mysteries in medicine and discovering some drugs that are still used today in modern forms.

• ISBN: 9789957167226
• Weight: 0.800 kg
• Dimensions: 17×24 cm
• Paper: White
• Pages: 424
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Binding: Hardcover