Newsletter
CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW DOES NOT COVER MEDICAL SERVICES
In a medical malpractice suit arising out of an eye operation, the Taipei District Court recently held that either from a literal interpretation of the Consumer Protection Law (CPL) or from its legislative history, it was unable to conclude that the CPL strict liability rule applies to medical services. However, in order to redress the un-equal position between physicians and patients, the court ruled that in the interest of fairness, the burden of proof should be reversed, to make it the responsibility of the physician to show that his actions were neither intentional nor negli-gent.
In a high-profile malpractice suit against the Mackay Memorial Hospital over a shoul-der-presentation birth, in which the hospital ap-pealed on the grounds that the CPL does not ap-ply to medical services, the Supreme Court also recently ruled in the hospital's favor to allow the appeal, and remand the entire case back to the Taiwan High Court for retrial. This is an im-portant test case, and further developments will be worth watching.