Cuesta Law Office’s senior associates Britta Oltjer and Hanne-Loore Mööl successfully represented the patient’s heirs in a dispute with Rakvere Hospital in the circuit court.
The circuit court ordered the hospital to pay non-pecuniary damage in the amount of EUR 12,000.00 as well as pecuniary damage and default interest to the heirs. In its decision, the circuit court emphasized that the proper fulfillment of the documentation obligation of the healthcare provider must allow the patient to check the content and volume of the provision of healthcare. If the hospital’s internal guidelines are not followed, the hospital must meet the purpose of the documentation obligation – controllability of treatment – in another way.
In addition, the circuit court found that the hospital did not do everything in its power to prevent the patient’s health from deteriorating or the disease from getting worse. The court emphasized that the healthcare provider has a duty to do everything in its power to reduce the patient’s suffering. The court acknowledged that if a healthcare provider breaches the duty of care in the performance of a contract, fails to carry out the necessary analyzes, does not monitor the patient with due diligence and does not alleviate his suffering in a manner consistent with the required care and thereby harm the patient, the damage is foreseeable for healthcare providers and is subject to compensation.
The decision of the circuit court has not yet entered into force and the parties have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court.