Özet:

Abstract With the Law on Amending the Turkish Penal Code and Some Laws, numbered 7406, important changes were made in the Health Services Basic Law, numbered 3359 for physicians and other healthcare professionals. A special permit procedure has been introduced for investigations on malpractices of physicians and other healthcare professionals working in public or private health institutions and organizations and foundation universities. The authority to authorize an investigation was given to the Professional Responsibility Board, which was established within the scope of the new regulation; those who are subject to the investigation procedure in Article 53 of the Higher Education Law are excluded from this regulation. The Professional Responsibility Board has also been assigned duties regarding compensation. With the new regulation, the Professional Responsibility Board would decide whether the compensation paid by the administration will be recourse to the relevant person and the amount of recourse, regarding physicians and other healthcare professionals working at public health institutions and organizations, and State Universities. Furthermore, important changes have been made in the Turkish Penal Code regarding the grounds for discretionary mitigation, in terms of crimes of murder and intentional injury, and the crime of preventing the right to benefit from public services. Changes have been made in terms of sanctions for acts of violence against healthcare workers. Moreover, the crime of intentional injury against the personnel working in health institutions and organizations, during or due to their duties, has been added to the catalog crimes included in the Criminal Procedure Law.