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ABSTRACT
Health issues are becoming problematic and getting on the increase each day across the globe. The increment is getting to its peak in developing countries. The very reason for this can be attributed to the simple fact that the human race due to its imperfect nature is plagued with various forms of ailments. Some of the names attached to some of these sicknesses are difficult to pronounce, others are even funny.
In developing countries like Nigeria however, medical practitioners are having nightmares because of increasing sicknesses which pose threat to life and burden to their profession as one saddled with the responsibility to save lives. Thus from the moment a patient gets admitted into a hospital or healthcare center, the law presumes that a special relationship is created between the patient and the hospital. Where a claimant claims that, that special relationship has been breached and intends to sue under the tort of negligence, he or anyone allowed by law to sue on his behalf, is required to show that the patient was owed a duty of care, and that in carrying out that duty, the medical practitioner fell below the standard of care required and that damages was caused as a result of the breach.
This thesis examines the present law and practice of Nigeria in relation to medical negligence with astute focus being laid on the standard of care owed to a patient. The present position has been discovered to be highly problematic. This is due to the fact that it is not easily determinable by the court. As a matter of both international human rights law and constitutional law, it is necessary that Nigerian law on medical negligence should be reconstituted and even codified.
