ABSTRACT:

The health care system in Nigeria has recorded unimaginable and unsatisfactory performance in quality delivery for a very long time. Medical services are still not accessible to many people, especially the poor. When accessed, patients receive sub-standard care in many cases due to the negligence on the part of one health care provider or another. On the other hand, when services are unaffordable, the patients go to quacks who may provide cheaper services, while causing greater harm or damage to the injured patients and their families. The truth is that many people in Nigeria do not know their rights, and many have limited knowledge. Certainly, if those patients become better informed of their rights and the reality of their taking out successful law suits against negligent health care providers, the quality of health care may improve in Nigeria. This paper therefore discusses the liability in negligence of these health care providers whether civil or criminal while suggesting a stiffer punishment for quacks who have continued to cause havoc in the society by their nefarious activities.