Abstract
Background. The goal set by the "medical legislation" of the Republic of Kazakhstan is to ensure citizens the right to receive affordable and high-quality medical care. It is well known that medical activity is one of the professions with a high share of risk. Risks in medicine concern both patients and medical workers themselves. For the former, this is the risk of harm to health or the onset of death. For the second - to be held legally liable. How correctly and skillfully a legal assessment of actions will be given depends on what legal consequences may arise for a medical worker. The problem of error in medical practice is not only a medical aspect of the activity, but also a matter of legal assessment that can significantly affect the professional future of a medical professional. "Medical error," "medical error," "medical negligence" - concepts that are not used in the text of legislative norms, but are present in professional speech circulation. The current Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On the Health of the People and the Health Care System" introduced such a concept as "medical incident," previously unknown to medical legislation. In this sense, the applied conceptual apparatus needs clarity of its content. For a long time, the legal unsettlement of "medical errors" and liability problems was perhaps the most painful question, ranging from terminology to the question of whether they should be decriminalized. The lack of specificity in the wording, vagueness, and broad interpretation can translate situations of lawful actions into unlawful ones and vice versa. Understanding the meaning of the applied conceptual apparatus in matters of erroneous actions of a medical worker is the most important task in order to avoid the conviction of an innocent. The article analyzes similar categories, distinguishes from cases of illegal actions of medical providers. Keywords: medical practice, medical error, physician, patient, medical incident, law, culpability, liability.