Medical Negligence and Its Litigation in Nigeria

Abstract

With Nigeria as focus, and adopting a doctrinal legal research approach, this paper engages the incidence of medical negligence along with the processes of pursuing redress through litigation and allied modes. The paper adopts pertinent primary judicial and legal authorities along with Common Law rules in the discourse of the medical negligence; these are supported, as necessary, with secondary authorities, such as opinions of learned writers, as expounded in texts, articles and other media. In related vein, the paper discusses the likely modes by which persons, directly or indirectly, affected by medical negligence can pursue redress. In a sociological context, the paper notes the relatively lower rates of litigations on medical negligence in Nigeria, compared with the situations in developed countries like the United States of America and Britain; the paper highlights the diverse social, religious and cultural factors that have made many aggrieved persons shy away from litigation in cases of medical negligence. The paper reflects that the influence of globalisation and social media, which increased rights-consciousness among Nigerians, has the possibility of increase in medical negligence litigations in the country. More so, the issue of medical litigation has been attracting the attention of medical practitioners, judicial officers, legal practitioners and other stakeholders in Nigeria. All these justify a fresh look at medical negligence, as undertaken in this paper. In its conclusive part, the paper flags the need for proactiveness and circumspectness in sanctioning medical doctors for medical negligence; this is to avoid a situation in which would eagerly resort to self-preservation mindset of “better not to get involved” for the purpose of avoiding stressful litigations flowing form their striving to be “good Samaritans”.