Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare

Legal questions concerning medical law and medical liability have become increasingly important in recent years.

Medical Law

The term ‘medical law’ includes the legal issues and general conditions of all health care providers. We offer our services to doctors and dentists, medical service centres, hospitals and private clinics, pharmaceutical companies, dental labs and pharmacists, advising them on the ever-changing legal issues concerning treatment by SHI-accredited physicians, social law, rules of professional conduct for medical practitioners and ethics or hospital law. For labour law-related and complex company law-related matters, we also make available specialized contact persons. Tax law-related issues are resolved in close consultation with your tax consultants. If need be, we also provide competent legal defense in criminal proceedings.

For example, we have solid experience and a high level of expertise in advising on the following subjects:

  • registration of doctors
  • purchase and transfer of a medical practice
  • formation of (local and regional) joint practices
  • formation of medical service centres
  • spin-off of hospital labs
  • acquisition of hospitals, corporations of various hospitals and restructuring under company law of hospital administrations,
  • collaboration between hospitals and registered doctors
  • settlement of internal conflicts or of conflicts among partners through mediation

Also in case of conflicts regarding rules of professional conduct and ethics, we represent doctors before disciplinary committees, professional courts, chambers as well as towards the association of Statutory Health Insurance dentists and physicians. We represent pharmacists, physicians and hospitals nationwide in disputes over fees and in cases of recourse relating to revaluations, efficiency audits etc.

Liability

There is hardly any profession where errors in the daily work can have such grave consequences as in medicine.

We advise doctors, dentists and hospitals and represent them in close consultation with the professional liability insurance companies. Additionally, we act for patients who accuse their attending physician of medical malpractice. Besides extrajudicial representation, defense of an action and claiming damages and smart money, respectively, are an important part of our activity. A key element in this regard is the meticulous handling of the case at a purely objective and high level. The fact that we act for both medical practitioners and patients offers an invaluable advantage in that we always know the perspective of the other party, allowing us to better anticipate their reactions.

Medical liability cases always generate a host of specific problems, starting with clearing up the exact circumstances. Treatment documents, medical expert’s reports etc. must be checked and assessed.

We have a good network which allows us to subject medical expert reports to a prompt evaluation to point out the strengths and weaknesses in the expert’s reports in the interest of our clients. If need be, we will tenaciously represent, while exhibiting the required level of objectivity, the interests of our clients with the courts, without however losing sight of the economic interests of our clients.

You will be informed extensively about the chances and risks of a legal dispute, the possible cost and the claims you are entitled to. Our many years of experience in the field of medical law and medical liability law enables us, at an early stage, to point out the special circumstances in each specific case, as well as to identify risks and to take the necessary legal steps from a legal and economic viewpoint.

Key contact(s)

Thomas Oedekoven
Dr. Jörg Wernery