Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
has to operate and the type of liability that may arise. First, it should be noted that
the provision of medical care in general, veterinary care in this case, involves
obligations that belong to the category of “means” and not “results.”
The veterinarian has no obligation under law to guarantee concrete results from
his/her professional services. However, he/she must do whatever is technically
possible to progress toward the result, and ideally even attain it, with the conse-
quence that his/her possible failure - for example the death of the animal - should
be evaluated only along the lines of duties of professional activities and, in
particular, in relation to the “duty of care.” The duty of care should be respected
in any type of contract, as required by the first paragraph of art. 1176 c.c. that says,
In carrying out his obligation, the debtor must use the diligence of a good
father
” but, concerning the obligations inherent in professional activity (includ-
ing medical activity), the second paragraph continues by saying, “
...
the diligence
...
must be assessed with regard to the nature of the business .”
Given the foregoing and given the nature of a medical professional's obligation
as one of methods and not one of results, it follows that, for veterinarians, each case
should be assessed on its own merits, as far as actual diligence and practical results
are concerned. This is specifically the degree of diligence that should be used while
carrying out professional activities (e.g., examination, diagnosis, surgical
procedures, and prescription of drugs) and the levels of professional capacity and
attention (Panichi et al. 2002 ). However, in cases where the professional services to
be performed on animals involve solving particularly difficult and complex techni-
cal problems - for example, complex surgery that is still at an experimental stage -
professional responsibility for a lack of success is less marked and exists only in
cases of serious misconduct, willful, or gross negligence, that is, behavior that is
medical malpractice (Passantino 2002 ).
13.2 Legal Aspects
The above reflections aim to introduce the procedural aspects of the veterinarian's
responsibilities in this delicate and topical matter.
The most complicated aspect of lawsuits relating to the establishment of medical
liability is essentially one concerning the “proof” of responsibility itself. Most
frequently, in fact, the judicial authority's knowledge and skills are insufficient to
enable it to understand to what degree of care the doctor should have used and,
accordingly, whether an injury worthy of compensation is a consequence of the
doctor's conduct.
In fact, when a veterinarian is charged with a liability, whether civil or criminal,
the party who claims to have suffered damages must, on the one hand, prove,
ideally with the help of technical advice, negligence in the performance of profes-
sional services, as well as the existence of damage and the causal relationship
between the defective or inadequate job performance and the damage deriving
therefrom; on the other hand, as the judicial organ likely lacks the technical
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