ABSTRACT
Introduction e unanticipated death of a loved one combined with a perception of wrongdoing by a health care provider may result in private grief entering the public domain. e action can be taken by an aggrieved individual, or through some form of group or class action if others in a similar position are identied. Matters can also be brought into the political arena, as was the case in the Shipman Inquiry (see Fih Report 4), following the deaths of at least 15, and probably over 200 mainly elderly patients over a period of years who were treated by Harold Shipman, a general practitioner in Manchester in the United Kingdom.
