Regulation of Substandard Medical Practice: Lessons from the Bawa-Garba Case.

Abstract

The regulation of substandard or dangerous clinical work by medical practitioners is one of the most challenging areas of medical regulation. There is an important conceptual distinction between poor or suboptimal clinical conduct and the outcome of such conduct. It is also important that harsh sanctions are not imposed by reason of a tragic result for a patient or a perception that no other regulatory response will be acceptable to the community. The line needs to be straddled between maintaining public confidence with stern and robust action being taken to protect the public and maintain standards, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, informed and realistic evaluation of conduct, takin..