Dutton - Medical Malpractice in SA

Preface
Medical malpractice law is particularly challenging. The subject matter by its
very nature covers a wide range of legal, medical and ethical areas of expertise.
In recent years, it has become essential for medical as well as legal practitioners
to have a sound understanding of the core principles of medical malpractice law.
This book sets out those principles. For medical practitioners, the key aspects of
the text have been highlighted by means of a dotted line in the margin. It is recommended
that medical practitioners initially master those concepts and understand
the overall context of the subject, before engaging with the more detailed
discussions set out elsewhere.
Books such as these must of necessity merge too many subjects for one person
to master in a lifetime. Therefore, since we are not immortal, it is inevitable that
in writing this book I have spent less time on any one part than those who
concentrate on an individual aspect; in that sense, this has been a community
effort. Gratitude is therefore due to the many judges, fellow practitioners and
academics who understand a particular individual subject better than I do, and
who may have expressed particular concepts better than I have; appreciation is
due to them for the considerable efforts and abilities which have contributed to
this work being produced.
I have, in presenting cases throughout my practice at the Bar, had the privilege
of dealing with a wide variety of experts. I have come to regard my role in
such matters as being akin to that of the conductor of an orchestra — my contribution
is not in mastering each individual instrument, but in organising and presenting
the overall performance coherently and effectively. I have attempted, in
this work, to achieve the same result by the same method. Finally, a few words of
sincere appreciation are called for: to my wife Nomé, my parents and my family,
for their unwavering patience and support; to Shanna Campbell for her assistance
in checking the footnoting; to Bianca Matches for her industry in preparing
the manuscript; to Simon Sephton of SiberInk for his commitment to this
project; and, finally, to all my colleagues, but especially Raymond Meneses, Paul
Schumann and Steve Shepstone, for their intellectual contributions, and to Judge
Claassen and Dr Edeling for kindly providing the Forewords.
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