The Legal Doctrine on 'Limitation of Liability' in the Precedent Analysis on Plastic Surgery Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

This study intended to review the precedents on plastic surgery medical malpractice lawsuits in lower-court trials, classify the reasons of 'limitation of liability' by type, and suggest a standard in the acknowledgement of limitation of liability ratio. The 30 lower-court's rulings on the cases bearing the medical negligence of the defendants acknowledged the liability ratio of the defendants between 30% and 100%. Ten cases ruled that the defendants were wholly responsible for the negligence or malpractice, while 20 cases acknowledged the limitation of liability principle. In the determination of damage compensation amount, the court considered the cause of the victim side, which contributed in the occurrence of the damage. The court also believed that it is against the idea of fairness to have the assailant pay the whole compensation, even there is no victim-side cause such as previous illness or physical constitution of the patient, and applies the legal doctrine on limitation of liability, which is an independent damage compensation adjustment system. Most of the rulings also limited the ratio of responsibility to certain extent. When considering that the legal doctrine on limitation of liability which supports concrete validity for the fair sharing of damage, the tangible classification of causes of limitation of liability suggested in this study would be a useful tool in forecasting the ruling of a plastic surgery medical malpractice lawsuit.

Rice Body Tenosynovitis without Tuberculosis Infection after Multiple Acupuncture Procedures in a Hand

No abstract available.

Unusual Bilateral Impalement Injury with Rusted Iron Bars on Face and Neck

Impalement injury is the subset of penetrating trauma, defined as fixed, elongated objects penetrate and remain in the human body cavity or region by relatively low velocity. We report an unusual case of facial and neck impalement where two dirty rusted iron bars penetrated forehead bilaterally and exited neck and ear respectively without causing major organ injuries. After thorough radiologic and physical evaluation, the patient got medical and surgical treatment. The patient was discharged without complication after four day of delayed wound closure. There have been no complications and sequelaes related with trauma, wound infection and scar contracture at 3-year follow-up. According to affected organs and pattern of impalement, individualized and multidisciplinary surgical approach should be considered. Following these guidelines as in this case, it was possible to achieve excellent clinical outcome in impalement injury.