OCUL, LAIZA MAY G.

JD 3A
OUANO, RUTHEZA GRACE A. LEGAL MEDICINE
A. LAW PROVISIONS

RULE 138: Attorneys and Admission to Bar

Section 5. Additional requirements for other applicants. — All applicants for admission other than
those referred to in the two preceding section shall, before being admitted to the examination,
satisfactorily show that they have regularly studied law for four years, and successfully completed all
prescribed courses, in a law school or university, officially approved and recognized by the Secretary
of Education. The affidavit of the candidate, accompanied by a certificate from the university or
school of law, shall be filed as evidence of such facts, and further evidence may be required by the
court.

No applicant shall be admitted to the bar examinations unless he has satisfactorily completed the
following courses in a law school or university duly recognized by the government: civil law,
commercial law, remedial law, criminal law, public and private international law, political law, labor
and social legislation, medical jurisprudence, taxation and legal ethics.

B. GOOD FAITH AS A DEFENSE

Good faith is an intangible and abstract quality with no technical meaning or statutory definition,
and it encompasses, among other things, an honest belief, the absence of malice and the absence
of design to defraud or to seek an unconscionable advantage. It implies honesty of intention, and
freedom from knowledge of circumstances which ought to put the holder upon inquiry.8 The
essence of good faith lies in an honest belief in the validity of one’s right, ignorance of a superior
claim and absence of intention to overreach another.

We do not doubt the existence of the presumptions of “good faith” or “regular performance of
official duty”, yet these presumptions are disputable and may be contradicted and overcome by
other evidence. Many civil actions are oriented towards overcoming any number of these
presumptions, and a cause of action can certainly be geared towards such effect. The very
purpose of trial is to allow a party to present evidence to overcome the disputable presumptions
involved. Otherwise, if trial is deemed irrelevant or unnecessary, owing to the perceived
indisputability of the presumptions, the judicial exercise would be relegated to a mere
ascertainment of what presumptions apply in a given case, nothing more. Consequently, the entire
Rules of Court is rendered as excess verbiage, save perhaps for the provisions laying down the
legal presumptions.

The law has long divided crimes into acts wrong in themselves called acts mala in se; and acts
which would not be wrong but for the fact that positive law forbids them, called acts mala
prohibita. This distinction is important with reference to the intent with which a wrongful act is
done. The rule on the subject is that in acts mala in se, the intent governs; but in acts mala
prohibita, the only inquiry is, has the law been violated? When an act is illegal, the intent of the
offender is immaterial.
 It is a general principle in law that in malum prohibitum case, good faith or motive is not a
defense because the law punishes the prohibited act itself.

C. BREACH OF THE DOCTOR – PATIENT CONTRACT

In an action for breach of contract, such as a doctor-patient contract, the negligence of the doctor
is not an issue, for if the doctor makes contract to effect a cure and fails to do so, he is liable
for breach of contract even though he uses the highest possible professional skill.

D. PRIVILEGE COMMUNICATION
The rule on privileged communication means that a communication made in good faith on any
subject matter in which the communicator has an interest, or concerning which he has a duty, is
privileged if made to a person having a corresponding duty. An example of which is the
communications between psychotherapists and their clients are privileged and, therefore, are
protected from forced disclosure in cases arising under federal law.

However, according to Rule 130, Sec. 24 (c) of the Rules of Court: Disqualification by reason of
privileged communication. — One of the following persons cannot testify as to matters learned in
confidence are:

“A person authorized to practice medicine, surgery or obstetrics cannot in a civil case,

without the consent of the patient, be examined as to any advice or treatment given by
him or any information which he may have acquired in attending such patient in a
professional capacity, which information was necessary to enable him to act in capacity,
and which would blacken the reputation of the patient”

As to the Extent of the Privileged Communication:

a. Interns;
b. Confidential information obtained by one of the physicians practicing medicine in
partnership with another physician whereby the patients of both are the patients of the
firm.
c. Nurses and attendants who were present and assisting the physician when the communication
was made.

When Communication is not a Privileged Communication

a. When a person is examined at the instance of the law, for the purpose of testifying
to solely qualify the physician to testify;
b. Information acquired by an autopsy on the body of a person who was not, prior to his
death, a patient of the physician performing the autopsy.
c. Information obtained by a technician from a patient is not privileged.
d. When the public interest so requires.

E. DOCTOR AS A WITNESS:
1. Ordinary
An Ordinary witness can only testify as a general rule, on those things which he has
perceived with his own organs of perception and he need not be skilled on the line he is
testifying.
 The following are requisites of an Ordinary Witness:
a. The person must have the organ and power of perception;
b. The perception gathered by his organs of sense can be imparted to others; and
c. He does not fall in any of the exception or disqualifications provided by the Rules of
Court.
“...all persons who, having organs of sense, can perceive, and perceiving can make known
their perception to others maybe witness” (Rule 130, Sec. 20 of the Rules of Court)
Opinion of Ordinary Witness – The opinion of a witness for which proper basis is given,
may be received in evidence regarding – a) The identity of a person about whom he has
adequate knowledge; b) A handwriting with which he has sufficient familiarity; and c) The
mental sanity of a person with whom he is sufficiently acquainted. (Rule 50, Sec. 20 of the
Rules of Court)
2. Expert
An expert witness is one who has the capacity to draw inference from the facts which a
court would not be competent to draw. He may render his opinion, inference, conclusion
or deduction on what he and others perceived and must be must be skilled on the art, science
or trade he is testifying.
Opinion of Expert Witness - The opinion of a witness on a matter requiring special
knowledge, skill, experience or training which he is shown to possess, may be received
in evidence (Rule 130, Sec. 49 of the Rules of Court)

F. BODILY EVIDENCE
There are two general types of evidence used in both science and law - Physical and Testimonial
evidence. Physical evidence is comprised of those forms of data that can be measured or
quantified. Examples include fingerprints, accelerants, hair or fibers, etc. Crime scene
investigators collect evidence such as fingerprints, footprints, tire tracks, blood and other body
fluids, hairs, fibers and fire debris. During a sexual assault, for example, biological evidence such
as hair, skin cells, semen, or blood can be left on the victim's body or other parts of the crime
scene. Properly collected DNA can be compared with known samples to place a suspect at the
scene of the crime.

G. EXHUMATION
The removal of a dead body from the ground after it has been buried is known as exhumation.
When an exhumation is required, it can be difficult time for the family and friends of the
deceased person. At all times, the person who has died must be treated with respect, and the
privacy of their family and friends must be protected.

Examples of situations where exhumation may occur include:

 When a court orders an exhumation as part of a criminal investigation

 For public health reasons (for example if a graveyard or cemetery is being moved)
 For family reasons (for example if the family of the deceased person asks for the remains
to be moved to another burial ground, another part of the country, or abroad)
H. DAMAGES, within the same action or as an independent civil action or the main action in
itself
Independent civil action can proceed independently from the criminal action. Nonetheless, the
offended party may not have double recovery. The offended party only gets the bigger award.
In cases of defamation, fraud, and physical injuries, a civil action for damages, entirely separate
and distinct from the criminal action, may be brought by the injured party.
I. PROXIMATE CAUSE
Proximate Cause is that cause, which, in natural continuous sequence, unbroken by an
efficient intervening cause, produces the injury and without which the result would not
have occurred.

The following are requisites of a proximate cause:

a. There must be a direct physical connection between the wrongful act of the physician and the
injury sustained by the patient.
b. The cause or the wrongful act of the physician must be efficient and must not be too remote
from the development of the injury suffered by the patient.
c. The result must be the natural continuous and probable consequences

J. KINDRED TORTS
Kindred Torts / Medical Practice is a particular form of negligence which consists in the
failure of a physician or surgeon to apply to his practice of medicine that degree of care and skill
which is ordinarily employed by the profession generally, under similar conditions, and in like
surrounding circumstances.”
In order to successfully pursue such a claim, a patient must prove that a health care provider,
in most cases a physician, either failed to do something which a reasonably prudent health care
provider would have done, or that he or she did something that a reasonably prudent provider
would not have done; and that failure or action caused injury to the patient.