Description

The two recent Singapore Court of Appeal decisions in Hii Chii Kok and Thomson Medical have profound implications for medical practice and medical litigation in Singapore. Hii Chii Kok has finally rejected the Bolam test for medical negligence with respect to the duty to inform and Thomson Medical has opened the door to claims for assisted reproductive negligence. Both cases were influenced by considerations of patient autonomy: in Hii Chii Kok, autonomy reshaped the law’s approach to the doctor-patient relationship and in Thomson Medical, it reshaped the notion of actionable damage.

Together, these two decisions compel us to rethink questions of medical ethics, the concept of autonomy, the evolving nature of the doctor-patient relationship, the evolving nature of medical practice/industry, the scope of liability of medical practitioners, and the policy approach of tort law. This roundtable, bringing together experts in the field with intimate knowledge of the legal and ethical issues as well as the two cases, is intended to explore these, and other issues, from a multidisciplinary perspective, including law, ethics, business and public policy.

The roundtable will be divided into two sessions, the first focusing on ACB and the second on Hii Chii Kok. Short presentations on selected topics will be made by panellists to focus the discussion. The aim of the roundtable is to facilitate informed and critical debate that will be of value to practitioners and will provide leads for further research inquiry by academics. There will be two student rapporteurs for the sessions and a comprehensive report will be prepared.