醫療過失與因果關係之舉證責任——以最高法院兩則判決為例【醫法新論】 試閱
Negligence and the Burden of Proof Concerning Causation in Medical Lawsuit
醫療過失與因果關係的認定向為醫療訴訟之重點,惟因醫療事件之專業性,當事人雙方是否能準確認知爭點所在,以及法院評價事實、適用法律時是否切中要領,均有一定難度。本件涉及實務對於藥品仿單記載在過失認定的評價,於醫療實務具有相當之重要性,值得參考。此外,俗話有云:「舉證責任之所在,敗訴之所在。」於專業、複雜的醫療事件中更是如此,因此舉證責任的分配至關重要。儘管原則上原告須就有利於己之事實負舉證責任,但考量醫療事件之專業性及大量證據偏在的情形,實務亦經常利用民事訴訟法第277條但書減輕原告之舉證負擔。惟於具體案例中,仍應謹慎平衡雙方舉證責任,以避免不當減輕或增加一方之負擔。
The determination of negligence and causation have always been the key points of medical malpractice lawsuit. Due to the dispute being highly professional, both parties might not be able to precisely recognize the issue, and the court might have a hard time evaluating facts and applying the law. This case involve the determination of negligence concerning package insert, which has a great significance in medical lawsuit. Also, as the saying goes “the proof, the losing,” accurately describes the situation of both parties in professional and complicated medical lawsuit. As a result, the allocation of burden of proof is of great importance. In principle, claimant is obligated to assert facts favoring his propositions, however, considering the professionalism of the dispute and the evidences mostly being archived in medical institutions, courts often utilize the article 277 of Civil Procedure code to alleviate the burden of claimant. Still, the burden of proof requires to be dealt with carefully to avoid unjust allocation among both parties.
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