Facts
B., a specialist physician in internal medicine and pulmonology, was the attending physician of C.A., born in 1937, from 1992 to 2009. In November 2002, the patient consulted the physician for a pain in the chest and respiratory discomfort. The physician performed a chest X-ray that revealed an infiltrate in the upper right lung lobe, but did not order any further examination. The patient subsequently consulted the physician several times for chronic pain and cough. In 2009, examinations finally revealed an advanced stage lung cancer.
The patient filed a criminal complaint against the physician in 2011 for serious bodily harm by negligence. After the rejection of the criminal complaint, the patient's heirs opened a civil action for payment against the physician in 2018, invoking the physician's contractual liability.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal ruled that the patient's contractual civil action could not be the subject of a civil action by joining the criminal proceedings, as the contractual claims are not based on a criminal offense and fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the…