[Individual medical services with no entitlement to reimbursement: general conditions relating to german social legislation and liability law]

(Individuelle Gesundheits- leistungen ohne Anspruch auf Erstattung: Sozial- und haftungsrechtliche Rahmenbedingungen.)

Full Abstract

Physicians owe their patients the necessary duty of care in both examination and treatment. A physician who disregards this basic level of care acts negligently and may be held liable for damages. The same level of duty applies to contracting physicians (Sect. 76 para. 4 SGBV). The efficiency principle of Title Five of the German Social Code (SGB V), and in particular the jurisdiction of the Federal Social Court has already taken into account the strained financial situation of the Statutory Health Insurance Systems through increasing rationing elements:
Panel patients' entitlement to benefits is limited by the procurement rights of the contracting physician so that actually the two-class medicine strictly denied by politicians has become reality long since. For the physician, a new legal obligation to inform his patient arises from the divergence between the civil and criminal part of the medical statutes on the one hand and the restrictive regulations for physicians practising under SGB V, creating considerable potential for conflict the extent of which will generally remain hidden from the medically ignorant patient. In its decision of December 6, 2005, the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) has set limits to the increasingly restrictive jurisdiction of the Federal Social Court referring to the welfare state principle. The dictate of humanity of Section 70 SGB V must not be degraded to the rank of a mere political statement.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Wartensleben, Herbert (H);

Affiliation: Anwaltskanzlei Wartensleben, Stolberg Herbert.Wartensleben(-atsign-)t-online.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: English Abstract; Journal Article

Journal: Zeitschrift für ärztliche Fortbildung und Qualitätssicherung (Z Arztl Fortbild Qualitatssich), published in Germany. (Language: ger)

Reference: 2006-; vol 100 (issue 9-10) : pp 719-22; discussion 723-4

Dates: Created 2007/02/02; Completed 2007/07/16; Revised 2008/11/03;

PMID: 17269513, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Legislation, Medical
Malpractice - legislation & jurisprudence
Private Practice - economics
Reimbursement Mechanisms

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.