Retired Judge Neels Claassen has urged parties involved in medical litigation to seek mediation as an alternative to protracted court battles in negligence claims. A report in The Herald says Claassen was presenting a paper to candidates on the advantage of mediation versus litigation stemming from medical negligence by doctors and other health professionals.
He was speaking during the first in a series of lectures in Foundations of Medical-Legal Practice, a course aimed at curbing medical malpractice. About 300 candidates – among them doctors, judges, lawyers, professors, nurses, industrial psychologists and clinical psychologists – attended the course.
The SA Medico-Legal Association has undertaken to design and present the course with the University of Cape Town. The course will run every second Saturday until June and candidates will write exams at the end.
Claassen expressed concern about time spent during litigation and the exorbitant cost, saying such matters could be better dealt with at round-table discussions with aggrieved parties. He also spoke of an antagonistic relationship between the medical and legal professions. He said collaboration between the two professions was required to serve the public better.
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