Medical Law in Ukraine

Medical law is a relatively young branch of law. Back in 2007, there were only a few companies on the legal services market that specialized in this industry, after 2010 – about 10. However, this area quickly became popular and here’s why:

– Ukrainians, following suit westerly, all more often try to protect the rights and recover the caused losses;

– the Ukrainian legislation in the field of medical services has a great number of defects and clearly not enough regulates this sphere of relations. It results sometimes in abuses from the side of patients;

– medical insurance becomes more popular and highly sought. Accordingly, non-fulfillment of her terms draws producing of legitimate claims against offending party;

– medical reform in Ukraine resulted in that large hospitals that had status of budgetary establishments before were reorganized in communal noncommercial enterprises and got independence. Actually, they begin to work in the conditions of market and need skilled legal support – private medicine develops actively, mastering all new and new directions and extending the spectrum of services, part from that to the recent pores were practically inaccessible in Ukraine. Medical business all anymore cares of the legal security.

What is medical law?

The field of medical law covers a wide range of legal relations in the field of healthcare organization, regulates the organization of the provision and quality control of medical services, the relationship between the hospital and the patient, the doctor and the patient, and the hospital and the doctor.

In Ukraine, there is a significant staff shortage for specialists who can provide high-quality protection services in the field of medical law, so society is not yet accustomed to the fact that violations of medical law can cause serious proceedings.

Our company has been serving one of the largest private medical centers in the south of Ukraine for over 10 years – the Odrex Medical House. There are also other clients in our practice – communal hospitals, dental centers and offices, an ophthalmological center, a plastic surgery clinic, a bioimplant company.

Despite the development of medical law, representatives of medicine are trying to save on legal services. Many of them are looking for an opportunity to close most of the issues on their own or by in-house lawyers. They turn to law firms only when there is a real rather complicated problem, and also when they need to hedge themselves by making serious decisions. Therefore, our work with clients is quite diverse, some of them need constant comprehensive service, others turn when questions become inevitable. Of course, this also depends on the size of the organization and the number of employees working in it.

Due to the established activities of our company, the priority is to serve the providers of medical services, and not their clients. Our company helps medical institutions, representatives of the pharmaceutical market, medical device manufacturers to avoid risks and act in the legal field. Consider our work through the prism of the services we provide:

• Legal support of the company’s economic activities;
• Work with contracts and legal documents (development, preparation for signing, legal analysis and control of their implementation);
• Representing the interests of the company in government bodies;
• Provision of legal advice;
• Development of internal documentation, support of licensing issues and obtaining permits;
• We help to obtain licenses: for medical practice, for the use of drugs and sources of ionizing radiation, for the sale of medicines;
• We accompany the process of legalization of medical devices;
• We are engaged in the legalization of the medical practice of foreign doctors;
• We help medical institutions prepare for accreditation;
• We accompany inspections by regulatory authorities, from preparation to appeal of results;
• We represent interests in courts;
• We analyze advertising campaigns and materials on medical and pharmaceutical topics;
• We accompany tender purchases and transactions;

In carrying out our work, we strive not only to protect against unfair claims, but also, if necessary, to restore the reputation of a medical specialist / institution. After all, the claims of a disgruntled patient can not only lead to material losses, but also be the basis for criminal prosecution.

It is often important that a lawyer participates in negotiations in certain conflict situations, including as a mediator. This helps not only to resolve the conflict that has arisen between the parties in the fairest way, but also to legally correctly consolidate the agreements reached between the Parties.

Many medical institutions are interested in the correct establishment of a system for maintaining medical records, and the registration of civil relations with patients, because this is a guarantee of their safety.

In view of the foregoing, as in the case of disease prevention, it is always better to establish the legal security of your medical business in advance, before conflict situations arise.