Ignorance of Health Regulations as A Fundamental Part of the Assignment of Responsibilities in the Medical Act

Health professionals have an obligation to provide assistance and care to people whose lives are in danger; This, taking into account that the supreme purpose of this profession is to preserve human life, which is why the protection of the life and health of the patient, as well as his physical integrity, is under his responsibility; However, in spite of these maxims, it has been unfortunately observed that the actions of health professionals do not always adhere to the rules and procedures established for this matter. Inappropriate or incorrect action on their part is capable of causing harm to the patient, known as medical malpractice. In our environment (public health), there are various justifications for health personnel with which they try to dilute this responsibility assigned in the maxim mentioned above, such as: lack of personnel, lack of therapeutic supplies, lack of adequate instruments, etc.). However, this does not omit the incredible incidence of malpractice that is generated in health institutions, derived mainly from ignorance of current legislation in the medical act. Medical malpractice resulting from negative actions is framed in the modalities of negligence, recklessness and incompetence, which derive in various types of responsibilities that can be imposed on health professionals, whether administrative, civil or criminal, which will be determined according to the damage caused. In this sense, the purpose of this paper is to present the panorama of the responsibility of health professionals in Mexico, which, as will be seen, is not limited to the actions of physicians alone, as is commonly thought, but is extended to nurses, technicians, assistants and practitioners (Undergraduate Medical Interns, Interns in Social Service and Residents of the various specialties) with the sole purpose of raising awareness in this sector and generating greater adherence to the legislation that allows us to practice a safe profession. This paper focuses on an analysis of what we consider to be functions and bibliographic elements that should be fully known by health personnel in order to improve the quality of care and, above all, in order to exercise a safe medical practice based on lex artis and lex artis ad hoc for each particular case and avoiding the practice of defensive medicine that often conditions the poor decision-making that perpetuates the pathological state of patients.