Attempt at a medicolegal assessment of radiation damage as bodily injury

The dissertation shows on which basis an unsuccessful therapy or the inevitable consequence of therapy, radiation damage, can be prosecuted under penal law as bodily injury. A description is given of the nature and the different types of ionizing radiation, effects on the cell and on the human organism, types of damage, different degrees of sensitivity of the various organs, signs and symptoms in the human body, maximum doses, legal restrictions for different patient groups and organs. The problems involved in objectification and establishing a causal relationship between ionizing radiation and the manifest damage are pointed out clearly. The legal part of the work examines negligence, obligation to inform the patient, obligation to exercise due care, failure to do so and malpractice as possible criteria for culpable infliction of bodily injury. (HSCH)