AN EXAMINATION OF MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE ERROR AND MALPRACTICE AS CONDUCT IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE OF PATIENTS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The Nigerian medical system on which a large percentage of Nigerians depend for healthcare is bedeviled withnumerous challenges which cause systemic dysfunction and inefficiencies for safe quality healthcare delivery.This problem worsens with the incidents of medical negligence, error and malpractice which are caused bymedical practitioners on the one hand and government on the other through institutional weaknesses with theconsequences for patients amounting to death. As regards Nigerian medical professionals, the occurrence ofharm to patients is prohibited under a medical rights enforcement mechanism. However, in the face of thecontinuing occurrence of these events, the objective of this study was to determine whether patients havefundamental rights and whether harm to patients through medical negligence, error and malpractice was inviolation of their fundamental right to life. Pursuant to this, the doctrinal research method was employed toundertake the evaluation through reliance on available Library literature, Journal publications and Internetsources. It was found that the harmful consequences due to medical negligence, error and malpractice are inviolation of the fundamental right to life of patients Nigeria. Furthermore, it was found that although there isthe problem of the significant violation of the fundamental right to life of patients in medical practice in Nigeria,fundamental rights law was not been enforced to prevent this from happening or provide remedy uponoccurrence. The identification of this problem, offered the opportunity for the use of fundamental rightsenforcement procedure as a basis for medical malpractice claim. Accordingly, it was recommended that thefundamental right to life of patients be enforced in medical practice in Nigeria through the instrumentality of thefundamental rights enforcement procedure that protects the fundamental rights of patients so as to reduce orcurb the problem of harm to patients.