Medical Liability of the Vaccinating Doctor: Comparing Policies in European Union Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic exhausted healthcare systems around the world, including European Union countries, with healthcare workers at the frontline. Therefore, new health laws and policies have been introduced at the national level in order to offer greater legal protection for health workers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2022-06, Vol.19 (12), p.7191
Main Authors: Amantea, Carlotta, Rossi, Maria Francesca, Santoro, Paolo Emilio, Beccia, Flavia, Gualano, Maria Rosaria, Borrelli, Ivan, da Costa, Joana Pinto, Daniele, Alessandra, Tumminello, Antonio, Boccia, Stefania, Ricciardi, Walter, Moscato, Umberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccines
Extreme values
Grey literature
Health care
Immunization
Informed consent
Institutional repositories
Law
Liability
Medical personnel
Medical research
Pandemics
Patients
Physicians
Professionals
Research methodology
Review
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Vaccination
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Summary:In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic exhausted healthcare systems around the world, including European Union countries, with healthcare workers at the frontline. Therefore, new health laws and policies have been introduced at the national level in order to offer greater legal protection for health workers. Since the introduction of COVID-19 vaccination, it has led to the development of specific laws to define the compulsoriness for particular categories. This review aimed to evaluate the system of medical liability, focusing on the ten countries of the European Union with the highest rate of vaccination coverage against SARS-CoV-2. A country-by-country analysis was conducted on the different medical liability systems of individual professionals, in general, and with specific focus on the vaccinating doctors. Additional search was conducted to investigate which European states have introduced specific policies in this field, to identify the implementation of any new laws alongside the COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, and to assess which countries have adopted the European Digital COVID Certificate and funded specific compensation programs for COVID-19 vaccination. Our results highlight an extremely fragmented European scenario; therefore, this work could be a starting point to define a common approach for medical liability and related policies in the COVID-19 pandemic.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph19127191