Press release issued:
9 March 2017
Criminal prosecutions of health care professionals following their fatal mistakes are complex and controversial. Last Week Dr. Quick presented research on the issue at the Birmingham Medico-Legal Society.
The recent successful appeal of Dr David Sellu highlights the difficulties of interpreting and applying the law of gross negligence manslaughter in this context. Oliver Quick has written widely on this area and conducted two empirical studies into how prosecutors and experts perform their roles in such cases.
Dr. Oliver Quick was also interviewed recently for a feature in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on this subject. 'Doctors, Medical Errors and the Justice System' discussed the successful appeal of Dr David Sellu against his manslaughter conviction.
The full detail of the Sellu case can be found on the British and Irish Legal Information Institute’s (BAILII) website.
Further information
Dr Oliver Quick is a member of the Centre for Health Law and Society. He teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Criminal Law, Criminal Justice, Medical Law and Public Health Law, and has published numerous articles in these fields. He is co-author (with Nicola Lacey and Celia Wells) of Reconstructing Criminal Law (CUP, 2010) and has carried out empirical research projects investigating how prosecutors and experts negotiate law and process in the context of the controversial crime of 'medical manslaughter.'
