Interested Parties in Medical Malpractice Claims

The participation of interested persons in medical malpractice claims depends on the disputed material and legal relations and the specifics of the actual relationship.
The main difficulties regarding the plaintiffs are related to the identification of interest in medical malpractice claims. The practical importance of detailing the material and legal interest in terms of the grounds for its occurrence is emphasized for persons who are in actual marital relations with the patient; young children of deceased patients; persons who meet the criterion of «having close ties with the patient», including those who are not relatives. It is substantiated that the circle of persons entitled to compensation for moral damage due to fetal death should be determined situationally and may not be limited to the child’s married parents.
The interested parties on the defendant’s side in resolving disputes as to compensation for damage caused to the life or health of a citizen depends on the status of legal entities that provided medical services.
The practice of involving medical workers in the case, due to whose actions the person was harmed, as third parties who do not file independent claims on the subject of the dispute, is criticized. Procedural complications due to an additional participant in the first proceeding do not create a clear advantage in comparison with the consideration of two disputes with ordinary parties. The practice of involving in the process entities whose competence includes additional financing of the defendant’s obligations; administrative and managerial personnel of a medical institution who did not participate in the treatment of the patient is erroneous and legally pointless.

1. Erdelevsky A. About relatives and distant relatives in civil and family law. Legal reference system «Konsultant Plus:" [Electronic resource]. «KonsultantPlus». 2021.

2. Mikhailov VC. The concept of actual causation and some problems of its application. Vestnik grazhdanskogo prava [Civil Law Review]. 2018;3:103-161. (In Russ.).