Medical, legal and ethical considerations (using the example of dermatovenerology in the Republic of Armenia)

The purpose of research. In accordance with the right of every citizen to proper medical care, the priority direction of state policy, especially taking into account the legal (and not only) vulnerability of the healthcare sector, is to ensure the proper level and quality of medical care and respect for the rights of patients. Unfortunately, the current state of the healthcare system and the analysis of law enforcement practice indicate a significant degree of criminalization of medical activities and the commission of professional offenses by medical professionals, including reckless crimes. The numerous range of issues that arise in connection with the admission of iatrogenism by a medical professional will be analyzed in this study in the context of one of the most complex branches of medicine – dermatovenerology, which deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the skin, nails, hair and sexually transmitted diseases. The purpose of this study is to consider issues related to distinguishing guilty behavior from innocent harm, to establish the type of negligence – negligence or recklessness, to determine the role (victimhood) of the patient (victim) in the mechanism of formation of iatrogenism and the onset of the corresponding adverse effects, to discuss ethical and legal issues of the doctor-patient relationship, to identify the causal complex of violations committed dermatovenerologists, as well as the development of a set of measures aimed at preventing iatrogeny in the field of dermatovenerology. The research is interdisciplinary in nature and is of interest to representatives of the legal science, given the existence of Article 187 in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, which provides for criminal liability of medical workers as special subjects of crime, as well as for representatives of medical science.