In this review, we present the evaluations of Court of Appeals for 13th Civil Chamber concerning decisions made by local courts as a consequence of medical malpractices by cardiothoracic surgeons. This legal terminology and concepts, which seem to be rather distant to physicians ourselves, are valid at every stage while executing our profession. According to the Turkish Penal Code, not knowing about the law is not considered as an excuse and this concept is valid in laws of every civilized country. As in the examples given in the review, in daily physician and surgical practices, an ordinary medical intervention may turn into causes of which their suit may continue for years and result in damages. The main component in the concept of malpractice is the neglect and defect in the care and treatment standards. The patient physician relationship is an attorney agreement and during his/her treatment, the patient grants the physician the right to intervene with the integrity of his/her body. In all such cases of conflict, evaluations are being made within the frame of the current general laws due to the lack of legal regulations toward health legislation.

Keywords : Cardiothoracic surgery; Court of Appeals for 13^th Civil Chamber; legal responsibility of physician; precedents