What is the risk of a doctor for infecting a patient with HCV?

The problem of infection can be considered in terms of deliberate and conscious action (criminal liability), and negligence on the part of a medical entity, or a nurse or a doctor (compensation). Therefore, if the nurse, through blood sampling or other medical activity, causes damage to the patient's he alth and, as a consequence, causes HCV, the nurse will be fully responsible for the damage caused. The same applies if the doctor has misconducted the patient. Then he will be fully responsible for his actions. In practice, however, the situation is not so simple as it often happens that some time after a stay in a hospital or other he alth unit, the patient learns that he or she is a carrier of HCV. Then the laborious process of finding out who infected him with the virus and how. According to the provisions of Art. 442 of the Civil Code a claim for compensation for damage caused by a tort, such as hospital infections, expires after 3 years from the date on which the injured person learned about the damage and the person obliged to repair it. However, the courts found that, in any event, the claim shall be time-barred after 10 years from the date on which the damage occurred. In the event of damage caused by hepatitis, the moment of becoming aware of the damage within the meaning of Art. 442 § 1 of the Civil Code there is only a moment when the aggrieved party learned about the existence of the disease from reliable and competent sources and became aware of its consequences and the damage to he alth it caused.

Judgment of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 12 May 2011 III CSK 236/2010

Remember that our expert's answer is informative and will not replace a visit to the doctor.

Przemysław Gogojewicz

Independent legal expert specializing in medical matters.

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