Conflict of interest, perception, attitude, and awareness in dealing with ethical and legal issues in medico-legal cases among healthcare professionals and public in a tertiary care hospital

Medical ethics, attitude, communication, and medical jurisprudence are closely related but not synonymous. Healthcare professionals must be aware of the legal aspects associated with their profession and take measures needed to protect themselves from legal traps. The objective of this study was to estimate the awareness, perception, attitude, and Conflict of interest of healthcare workers and the public concerning medico-legal cases (MLC). The secondary objective was to find an association between awareness and attitude among healthcare professionals and the community.

A cross-sectional study was conducted between 01^st April to 31^st May 2021 in a Medical college at Barabanki. The study was conducted among 167 participants, 106 (63.5%) were female, and 61 (36.5%) were male. The overall awareness about medico-legal issues was below adequate in 52.1% ofrespondents.

The study results revealed that the perception of people is affected by awareness and attitudes are influenced by personal interest. The study found a significant difference between the awareness and attitude of participants regarding medico-legal issues. It may be possible due to the usual awareness-attitude gap among the participants and the overall perception of the participants because the findings are not as expected. It needs to be improved through interactions between health care professionals and the public.