Angela Roddey Holder’s scientific contributions

THE purpose of any legal system is to provide a framework within which members of society may co-exist as peaceably as possible. Further, law is used to enforce the minimum value system that the government considers necessary for group order, and to establish the freedoms, if any, that the political philosophy prevailing in the nation guarantees to the inhabitants. While the world's legal systems are widely different results of divergent philosophies, the purpose of the legal systems is usually quite similar. Legal systems tend to adopt a rather negative view of human behavior. They restrict undesirable, but do not usually reward desirable and ethical behavior. If a citizen of the United States makes fraudulent statements on his income tax returns, he may well go to prison. If a surgeon leaves a hemostat in a patient's abdomen and the patient chooses to sue, the surgeon will probably be required to pay

PRIOR to examination of the specific procedures involved in criminal law, several basic philosophical principles that affect all the proceedings in a criminal case should be noted.Presumption of Innocence One basic assumption that is made at all stages of a criminal case is that the accused is presumed innocent until a verdict is given by a jury (or a judge in the case of a nonjury trial). While most persons charged with a criminal offense eventually plead guilty either to the offense as charged or to a lesser one, until such time as the final disposition of the case is made, the "accused" is just that; he is not a "criminal." This assumption is responsible for most of the constitutional guarantees regarding the rights of an accused. The founding fathers who wrote the Bill of Rights wished to ensure that the rights of persons accused were protected, and that

Prepared for the AMA Office of the General Counsel.

THE FORMAL arrangements made by employers for physicians to examine prospective employees or by institutions to employ physicians to treat their resident populations were discussed in the first article in this series. Third-party contracts of a more informal nature are often the origin of a physician-patient relationship. One member of a family commonly will request the services of a physician for another family member. In general, the same relationship is created between the physician and this patient as when the patient himself arranges for the physician's services.Children A physician-patient relationship may well be established between a physician and an unborn child. If a physician is caring for a woman he knows (or should know) is pregnant and negligently he causes prenatal injuries, in some states he may be liable to the baby if it is born alive. In 1946, a court in the District of Columbia was the first

Prepared for the AMA Office of the General Counsel.

Prepared for the AMA Office of the General Counsel.

1 +Patrick vs Sedgewick, 391 P 2d 453, 19642 +413 P 2d 169, Alaska, 1966.3 +Louisell H, Williams D: Medical Malpractice , New York, Matthew Bender & Co, Inc, 1960.4 +Nishi vs Hartwell, 473 P 2d 116, Hawaii, 1970.5 +Karp vs Cooley, 349 F Supp 827, DC Texas, 1972.6 +Alden vs Providence Hospital, 382 F 2d 163, DC CA, 1967.7 +Aurelio vs Laird, 233 NE 2d 531, Mass, 1967.8 +Sawyer vs Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital, 234 NYS 2d 372, NY, 1962.9 +Foley vs Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital, 173 NW 2d 881, Neb, 1970.10 +James vs Spear, 338 P 2d 22, Calif, 1959.11 +Rotan vs Greenbaum, 273 F 2d 830, CA DC, 1959.

Prepared for the AMA Office of the General Counsel.