[Lawsuits in medical liability. Why? Against whom?]

The author, a Surgical Expert at the french Supreme Court, gives his opinion about medical liability in malpractice action. He studies successively: the main causes of these actions: lack of information, poor results, loss of confidence on the part of the patients, comments from other doctors; malpractice liability needs a relation between the surgical act and the damage; French law concerning State owned Hospitals; future projects concerning compensation without liability. The various channels which can be used in malpractice trials are successively examined and also the surgeons attitude in relation to his lawsuit.