[Documentation in law and general practice]

The law requires medical personnel, both physicians and non-physicians, engaged in care of patients, to document the adequate care of patients. The documentation may not become an end in itself with the concomitant extra labour involved; rather, its value lies in its being one element in the quality control of treatment and care. Feared legal sanctions in the form of reversal of the onus of proof, and equally so legal claims as a consequence of recently introduced legislation in the form of the Medicinal Products Law concerning liability of endangerment, can be avoided through suitable documentation applying labour-saving standards.