Medical Negligence Cases in Azerbaijan

Medical Negligence Cases in Azerbaijan

Liability for medical negligence cases in Azerbaijan

Recently, the number of civil and criminal cases in courts regarding medical negligence has increased significantly. Situations have reached a point where, upon approaching a hospital, you cannot always be certain that you will receive the necessary medical assistance.

Medical negligence is the causing of harm to a person who seeks medical help due to a medical worker's failure to perform their duties in a biased or careless manner. Medical negligence does not only consist of a doctor’s mistake; it also includes the doctor's failure to carry out necessary medical procedures, failure to examine the patient on time, and failure to hospitalize them.

What types of liability can a doctor or clinic face?

A doctor can be held liable through internal disciplinary measures, civil liability, and criminal liability for negligence committed during their work.

Examples of medical negligence include:

• The doctor is inattentive to the patient's complaints, leading to a misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment.

• The doctor is negligent regarding the patient's condition during the rehabilitation period, leading to complications or a relapse.

• The doctor breaches medical confidentiality or fails to follow medical ethics.

• Treatment is terminated before the established duration, causing aggravating complications.

Every doctor is an official with defined professional duties. If a decision made by a doctor causes serious harm to a patient's health or results in death, this can serve as the basis for a criminal offense.

However, to prove medical negligence cases in Azerbaijan, there must be a clear causal link. If there is uncertainty, the medical staff is released from liability, and the incident is instead classified as a medical risk.

Criminal Liability for Medical Negligence in Azerbaijan

Criminal Liability for Medical Negligence in Azerbaijan

A doctor bears responsibility for negligence under Article 314 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan:

• 314.1. Negligence—that is, the failure of an official to perform or properly perform their service duties due to a dishonest or indifferent attitude toward work, resulting in significant harm to the rights and legal interests of physical or legal persons, or the legally protected interests of the state or society:

  • Penalty: A fine of 1,500 to 3,000 AZN, or 240 to 460 hours of community service, or up to 2 years of correctional labor, or up to 2 years of restriction of liberty, or up to 6 months of imprisonment.

• 314.2. The same acts resulting in the death of the victim or other grave consequences through imprudence:

  • Penalty: Restriction of liberty for 2 to 5 years, or imprisonment for up to 5 years.

• 314.3. Acts provided for in Article 314.1 resulting in the death of two or more persons through imprudence:

  • Penalty: Imprisonment for 3 to 7 years.

Practical Example:

Death of an infant due to the failure of an obstetrician-gynecologist to perform a timely C-section:

A pregnant woman arrived at the hospital regarding the "leakage of amniotic fluid." Although the duty doctor recorded the leakage, they could not initially determine the fetal heartbeat. The heartbeat was eventually found via ultrasound—102 beats per minute. According to all protocols, the woman should have undergone an immediate Cesarean section, but the doctor failed to do so, resulting in the death of the 37-week-old infant.

During the trial, the person who failed to perform the timely C-section was found guilty under Article 314.2 of the AR Criminal Code and sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment.

Compensation for Medical Negligence cases in Azerbaijan

In addition to criminal liability, a doctor can be held civilly liable. Civil liability refers to the payment of compensation for material and moral damage caused to the patient due to negligence, or moral damage to family members if the patient dies.

Civil liability is reflected in the following articles of the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan:

• Article 21. Compensation for Damages:

  • 21.1. A person entitled to demand compensation for damages can demand full compensation for the damage caused to them.

  • 21.2. Damage includes expenses incurred (or to be incurred) to restore the violated right, loss of or damage to property (real damage), and lost profits.

• Article 1118. Scope and Nature of Compensation for Harm to Health:

  • 1118.1. Compensation is paid for lost wages (income) and additional expenses related to health damage (treatment, nutrition, medicine, prosthetics, nursing care, sanatorium treatment, etc.), provided the victim needs these and does not have the right to receive them for free.

• Article 1127. Compensation for Funeral Expenses:

  • Persons liable for damage resulting in the victim's death must compensate the person who incurred the funeral expenses.

Is the clinic liable for the doctor's mistake?

Compensation can be sought from the clinic where the doctor works as well as the doctor themselves. According to Article 1099.1 of the Civil Code, a legal or physical person is liable for a civil wrong (tort) committed by their employee during the performance of their labor (service/official) duties.

Example:

In the case of a failed plastic surgery, the victim can demand compensation from both the plastic surgeon and the clinic where the surgeon is employed under an employment contract.

It should be noted that legal disputes with medical institutions are very complex; therefore, a medical negligence solicitor is required to represent the interests of the patient or their representatives in court.

Maximum Legal Center can help you with this issue. Whether you are seeking to file a civil claim for compensation or require representation in a criminal investigation regarding medical malpractice, our team provides the specialized legal expertise necessary to navigate these complex cases.