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Appropriate Limitation for Mental Damage Compensation in Liability for Medical Damage

Received: 21 July 2022    Accepted: 8 August 2022    Published: 17 August 2022
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Abstract

Since the 19th century, the compensation system for mental damage has been established in many countries. Unlike the general damage compensation, mental damage compensation refers to the non-property damage that requires the infringer to make the corresponding compensation by means of money. The mental damage compensation in the medical damage liability refers to the situation that the patient suffers serious mental damage due to the medical negligence of the medical staff, and then seek compensation from the medical institutions. The mental damage compensation in medical damage liability is both comforting and punitive. The comforting function is the main function, the punitive function is the auxiliary function. But so far, the determination of the principle and amount of compensation for mental damage in the medical damage liability is still controversial. This paper takes the restrictions on the amount of mental damage compensation in Germany and the United States as examples, introduces the relevant Chinese law and regulations as well as different views of scholars, combines relevant cases in China, and discusses the principle that the mental damage compensation should be appropriately limited. As for the amount of the compensation, this paper introduces the principle of proportional compensation, and further proves its rationality and feasibility by discussing relevant cases in China. Setting a maximum limit for mental damage compensation has always been the heart of tort reform which aims to reduce the cost of medical malpractice litigation. By setting a maximum limit, the amount of compensation is appropriately limited. Thus, while protecting the rights and interests of patients, the development of social and medical undertakings can be further promoted.

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 5, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17
Page(s) 305-318
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Medical Damage Liability, Mental Damages Compensation, Appropriate Limitation Principle, Proportional Damages

References
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  • APA Style

    Yilin Hu. (2022). Appropriate Limitation for Mental Damage Compensation in Liability for Medical Damage. International Journal of Law and Society, 5(3), 305-318. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17

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    ACS Style

    Yilin Hu. Appropriate Limitation for Mental Damage Compensation in Liability for Medical Damage. Int. J. Law Soc. 2022, 5(3), 305-318. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17

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    AMA Style

    Yilin Hu. Appropriate Limitation for Mental Damage Compensation in Liability for Medical Damage. Int J Law Soc. 2022;5(3):305-318. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17,
      author = {Yilin Hu},
      title = {Appropriate Limitation for Mental Damage Compensation in Liability for Medical Damage},
      journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
      volume = {5},
      number = {3},
      pages = {305-318},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20220503.17},
      abstract = {Since the 19th century, the compensation system for mental damage has been established in many countries. Unlike the general damage compensation, mental damage compensation refers to the non-property damage that requires the infringer to make the corresponding compensation by means of money. The mental damage compensation in the medical damage liability refers to the situation that the patient suffers serious mental damage due to the medical negligence of the medical staff, and then seek compensation from the medical institutions. The mental damage compensation in medical damage liability is both comforting and punitive. The comforting function is the main function, the punitive function is the auxiliary function. But so far, the determination of the principle and amount of compensation for mental damage in the medical damage liability is still controversial. This paper takes the restrictions on the amount of mental damage compensation in Germany and the United States as examples, introduces the relevant Chinese law and regulations as well as different views of scholars, combines relevant cases in China, and discusses the principle that the mental damage compensation should be appropriately limited. As for the amount of the compensation, this paper introduces the principle of proportional compensation, and further proves its rationality and feasibility by discussing relevant cases in China. Setting a maximum limit for mental damage compensation has always been the heart of tort reform which aims to reduce the cost of medical malpractice litigation. By setting a maximum limit, the amount of compensation is appropriately limited. Thus, while protecting the rights and interests of patients, the development of social and medical undertakings can be further promoted.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Appropriate Limitation for Mental Damage Compensation in Liability for Medical Damage
    AU  - Yilin Hu
    Y1  - 2022/08/17
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17
    T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
    JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
    JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
    SP  - 305
    EP  - 318
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2640-1908
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220503.17
    AB  - Since the 19th century, the compensation system for mental damage has been established in many countries. Unlike the general damage compensation, mental damage compensation refers to the non-property damage that requires the infringer to make the corresponding compensation by means of money. The mental damage compensation in the medical damage liability refers to the situation that the patient suffers serious mental damage due to the medical negligence of the medical staff, and then seek compensation from the medical institutions. The mental damage compensation in medical damage liability is both comforting and punitive. The comforting function is the main function, the punitive function is the auxiliary function. But so far, the determination of the principle and amount of compensation for mental damage in the medical damage liability is still controversial. This paper takes the restrictions on the amount of mental damage compensation in Germany and the United States as examples, introduces the relevant Chinese law and regulations as well as different views of scholars, combines relevant cases in China, and discusses the principle that the mental damage compensation should be appropriately limited. As for the amount of the compensation, this paper introduces the principle of proportional compensation, and further proves its rationality and feasibility by discussing relevant cases in China. Setting a maximum limit for mental damage compensation has always been the heart of tort reform which aims to reduce the cost of medical malpractice litigation. By setting a maximum limit, the amount of compensation is appropriately limited. Thus, while protecting the rights and interests of patients, the development of social and medical undertakings can be further promoted.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 3
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Author Information
  • Sydney Law School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

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