Modern medicine was first introduced into Taiwan by missionary hospitals in 1865. However, Japanese governors following Japan's medical reform applied modern medicine as the standard of practice in the year 1896. They also imported 150 doctors from Japan to promote public hygiene and control infectious diseases, such as malaria, plague, cholera, dysentery, etc. The reasons that the Courts started to use criminal law to deal with medical malpractice during 1950-1960s may be attributed to the following: costly and ineffective civil actions, chaotic medical licensing, a period of upheaval during the 1947 massacre (228 incident), Chinese Civil War (1947-1949), political unrest, "White Terror" and "Espionage Act" during the period of martial law (1949-1987), social injustice and economic depression. The general environment for medical practice in Taiwan has changed greatly in the past 60years. It is time for us to look around the world to set up standards of negligence for both clinical and criminal cases as soon as possible. In the mean time, the Department of Health should consider adopting the Good Medical Practice guidelines from the United Kingdom to strengthen the administrative power to regulate physicians' behaviors.
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