A number of criminal prosecutions brought against healthcare professionals over patient deaths, both locally and overseas, have given rise to notable consternations in recent years. This paper begins with an overview of the applicable criminal offence of gross negligence manslaughter, followed by discussions on the threshold for prosecution, the issue of moral luck, and the implications that the current direct of travel might have for our professional culture and the public interest. References are drawn from recent developments in the United Kingdom, where two high-level independent reviews have identified several mitigating measures against the potential trend and detrimental effects of over-criminalisation1-2.
It is argued that a distinction ought to be drawn between "honest mistakes"-made without intent to cause harm or recklessness as to the risk of harm- and conscious (or reckless) violations of established rules and standards; and that "medical manslaughter" cases ought to be handled with exceptional care not because healthcare professionals are an exception to the law, but because of the exceptional damage that a single case might do to the integrity and values of our healthcare system.
