Difficult Patient-Physician Relationships and the Risk of Medical Malpractice Litigation

Abstract

The patient-physician relationship is the cornerstone of the medical profession. Encounters between patients and their physicians are based on trust and give rise to physicians’ ethical obligations to place patients’ welfare above their own [1]. Successful medical care requires ongoing collaboration between patients and physicians, a partnership in which both members take an active role in the healing process [2, 3].