26.05.2021
On 26 May 2021 in Sofia was held one of the largest conferences in the field of medical law. It was organized by the Institute of the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and involved scientists from Bulgaria, Slovakia, the United States and Korea.
The topic of the conference was "Fundamental Rights and Medical Law". The 31 presented reports covered current legal topics related to patients' access to medical care, choice of а doctor, clinical trials of drugs with children, legal complications in medical expertise, the pandemic and the rights of the elderly, e-commerce of medicines, sanctions of the Health Insurance Fund, the insolvency of the medical establishments, the robotic surgery. Topics from international, criminal, civil, commercial, administrative and EU law - all at the intersection of health and law - were presented and discussed. Almost a third of the reports focused on the legal challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of particular interest were the reports posing important problems and challenges to medical law, such as those of Prof. Darina Zinovieva, Prof. Polya Goleva, Prof. Irena Ilieva, Prof. Maria Slavova, Prof. Gabriela Belova, Assoc. Prof. Nadezhda Yonkova, Assoc. Prof. Manol Stanin, as well as doctoral students and assistants in various law faculties of the country and in institutes of BAS. The conference was attended by over 50 participants - representatives of legal and medical academia, attorneys-at-law and in-house lawyers at healthcare institutions.
Another testament to the exceptional interest in medical law was the personal attendance of the Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Dimitar Petrov, the Ombudsman Assoc. Prof. Diana Kovacheva and the Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Medical Union Dr. Ivan Madzharov, who all greeted the participants and raised current and important issues and challenges for the law in the field of healthcare.
The conference was opened by the Director of the Institute for the State and the Law Prof. Irena Ilieva. Prof. Dr. Ergul Tair gave a congratulatory address by Acad. Julian Revalski - President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. A greeting from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS was given by its Deputy Director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Valeri Lichev.
All reports will be published in a special print edition of the Institute of the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. It is expected to be published in September.
