In November 2013, Mr David Seliu, FRCS, a senior surgeon with a previously impeccable record, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for manslaughter. The verdict, and the decision not to suspend the sentence, served to send a collective shiver down the spine of surgeons and clinicians throughout the UK. If this proves to be not just an isolated incident, but rather a trend towards more and longer custodial sentences for doctors who make mistakes, it carries the potential to be a game-changer. In response, many clinicians are likely to adopt a considerably more defensive approach to their practice of medicine and surgery.
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