Medical Negligence by Postgraduate Students and Residents: The Liability Trail.

Postgraduate students or physicians in training are bound to make mistakes. In medical negligence litigation involving the postgraduate students, the supervising faculty members as well as the hospital where the alleged act has occurred could also be found liable. In this review article, the applicable legal principles and a brief summary of the case laws are presented.

The weekend factor: the effect on healthcare quality. A medico-legal, retrospective study.

Background: In the healthcare system, in the last 30 years, the prognostically negative value of the so-called Weekend Effect (WE) has been internationally recognized. The WE is regarded as the increased risk a patient might incur when hospitalized during non-working days, of enduring severe complications in comparison to the same hospitalization that occur on working days. The aim of this study was to retrospectively verify whether, once a mistake was made during weekends or on holidays, in comparison to a mistake occurred on workdays, it subsequently implied a higher risk of complications, death included, in a statistical and medico-legal way. Methods: Three different evaluators independently examined a total of 378 medico-legal cases over a more than 20-year period. Eventual medical actions and omissions were labelled as 'mistake' when the AJ claimed that at least one occurred; 'alleged mistake' included the cases where the EW's report disagreed with the AJ's one; finally, 'no mistake' when both the AJ and the EW agreed in their evaluations. During weekends there is a higher risk that a mistake occurs (OR=3.3, 95% CI=1.6;7.4; p-value<0.001) compared to weekdays. When death occurs, delayed diagnosis is the main cause (p=0.02), whereas a damaging action is more frequently claimed in general. Conclusions: We verified as actual the impact of the WE on patients' outcome from a medico-legal point of view. The implications for an improvement of the several settings of the Italian NHS are various, and many are the consequences in the healthcare management.

Negligence in biomedical research: an anti-racist approach for substance use researchers.

Racism is embedded in the fabric of society at structural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal levels, working as a mechanism that drives health disparities. In particular, stigmatized views of substance use get entangled with racialization, serving as a tool to uphold oppressive systems. While national health institutions have made commitments to dismantle these systems in the United States, anti-racism has not been integrated into biomedical research practice. The ways in which substance use researchers use and interpret race data-without engaging in structural racism as a mechanism of health inequity-can only be described as inadequate. Drawing upon concepts from the Public Health Critical Race praxis, QuantCrit, and an anti-racism research framework, we recommend a set of guidelines to help biomedical researchers conceptualize and engage with race more responsibly in substance use research.

Ethical and Legal Perspectives on the Treatment of Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy in the Newborn.

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in neonates can cause severe, life-long functional impairments or death. Treatment of these neonates can involve ethically challenging questions about if, when, and how it may be appropriate to limit life-sustaining medical therapy. Further, parents whose infants suffer severe neurologic damage may seek recourse in the form of a medical malpractice lawsuit. This study uses several hypothetical cases to highlight important ethical and legal considerations in the care of infants with HIE.

Legal mechanisms and procedures in alleged medical negligence: A review of Indian laws and judgments.

Medical malpractice suits are quite common in developed countries leading to an increase in malpractice insurance. Recent trends indicate that India is at the cusp of a medical malpractice crisis. There has been a rise in medical negligence cases filed against doctors, though often the allegations are frivolous. In such cases, doctors can be considered as the second victim of medical negligence. Members of the medical fraternity do not learn much about law during their training and are often naïve regarding various options available to counter such cases as well as relevant legal doctrines. Doctors thus not only need to remain updated on medical knowledge and skills but also obtain knowledge of legal paradigms. We aim to raise awareness among doctors about handling negligence cases in various forums and share insights through relevant literature, court judgments and government orders. We also map the process of handling complaints, procedures followed in various courts and the different levels of remedies available for doctors.

Use of morcellation in laparoscopic myomectomy. Medical malpractice and medicolegal considerations.

Background: In recent years, due to the increase in medical mal-practice complaints, the Sicilian Regional Health System has adopted procedures for the direct management of claims by each health facility with the aim of reducing the costs of insurance premiums and related taxes. Mandatory sentinel event monitoring is a crucial part of this strategy to improve patient safety and quality of care. The reported case relates to a laparoscopic myomectomy surgery performed by means of morcellation, a controversial technique. After the FDA's intervention in 2014, it is believed that morcellation may worsen the staging of the disease by spreading malignancies such as leiomyosarcoma into the abdomen. Case report: A 28-year-old woman, underwent laparoscopic surgery for uterine fibroids and an ovarian cyst removal in August 2018. Post-surgery, she was diagnosed with Leiomyoma. She returned to the hospital due to metrorrhagia and was discharged after a week. Persistent symptoms led to her readmission and subsequent exploratory laparoscopic surgery at another hospital. This resulted in a total hysterectomy and the discovery of uterine leiomyosarcoma, with FIGO STAGE IIIB staging. Despite chemotherapy, she passed away six months later. Discussion and Conclusions: This case highlights medical-legal issues. Informed consent for morcellation and its risks was not obtained. The morcellation technique was used, increasing cancer spread risk. The histopathological process was inadequate, with three biopsies leading to misdiagnosis. This could be medical malpractice, making providers legally responsible for the patient's deteriorating condition and the anticipation of possible death.

[Importance of documentation. Not documented is deemed to be not done]. / Bedeutung der Dokumentation. Nicht dokumentiert gilt als nicht gemacht.

Only a few physicians are willing to comprehensively concern themselves with how a legally watertight treatment documentation should be structured, in addition to their practical activities; however, the importance of the documentation cannot be emphasized enough, not only for a potential case of liability but also for the medical (further) treatment. This article therefore illustrates the legal foundations of the mandatory documentation and the most important questions associated with it for the practice, in particular on the content of the documentation, the timing of the documentation, the preservation of treatment documents and on the conduct in cases of an impending incident.

Beyond medical errors: exploring the interpersonal dynamics in physician-patient relationships linked to medico-legal complaints.

BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests that medico-legal complaints often arise from various factors influencing patient dissatisfaction, including medical errors, physician-patient relationships, communication, trust, informed consent, perceived quality of care, and continuity of care. However, these findings are not typically derived from actual patients' cases. This study aims to identify factors impacting the interpersonal dynamics between physicians and patients using real patient cases to understand how patients perceive doctor-patient relational problems that can lead to dissatisfaction and subsequent medico-legal complaints. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study using data from closed medical regulatory authority complaint cases from the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2020. The study population included patients who experienced sepsis and survived, with complaints written by the patients themselves. A multi-stage standardized thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke's approach was employed. Two researchers independently coded the files to ensure the reliability of the identified codes and themes. RESULTS: Thematic analysis of 50 patient cases revealed four broad themes: (1) Ethics in physician's work, (2) Quality of care, (3) Communication, and (4) Healthcare system/policy impacting patient satisfaction. Key sub-themes included confidentiality, honesty, patient involvement, perceived negligence, perceived lack of concern, active engagement and empathy, transparency and clarity, informed consent, respect and demeanor, lack of resources, long wait times, and insufficient time with physicians. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies and categorizes various factors impacting relational issues between physicians and patients, aiming to increase patient satisfaction and reduce medico-legal cases. Improving physicians' skills in areas such as communication, ethical practices, and patient involvement, as well as addressing systemic problems like long wait times, can enhance the quality of care and reduce medico-legal complaints. Additional training in communication and other skills may help promote stronger relationships between physicians and patients.

Trigeminal nerve injuries following dental procedures: A retrospective analysis of malpractice claims from 2016 to 2023 in South Korea.

BACKGROUND: Dental malpractice claims, which pertain to legal actions against dentists accused of clinical negligence that caused harm to patients, have increased in the past ten years in South Korea. The claims are caused by complications, particularly trigeminal nerve injuries, resulting from various dental procedures. Medicolegal issues related to trigeminal nerve injury have not been previously described in South Korea. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to identify the general, dental, and judicial characteristics of closed dental malpractice claims. METHODS: This study was designed as a descriptive study. We collected the data of 51 closed claims related to trigeminal nerve injury resulting from dental procedures such as dental implant emplacement, tooth extraction, and local anesthesia. The claims were decided by courts in South Korea between 2016 and 2023. The general, dental, and judicial characteristics of the claims were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The average claim resolution period was 4.2 (range: 1.47-8.39) years post-adverse events that occurred more frequently in dental clinics (68.6 %) than in dental (25.5 %) or general hospitals (5.9 %). Inferior alveolar (66.7 %) and lingual (17.6 %) nerves were injured following dental procedures. The duty to inform was breached in 68.6 % of claims. The dental procedure performed (P < 0.001) and the injured nerve (P < 0.001) were associated with the violation of the duty to care. CONCLUSION: To improve the quality of dental care services, the analysis of the adverse events using various resources including judgments should be strongly addressed.

Social inflation and health care risk management.

This paper examines the concept of social inflation as it affects medical malpractice insurance claims, a phenomenon that warrants monitoring by risk managers in health care. The authors define social inflation as the growth in the cost of insurance claims that exceeds general inflation. The authors use data aggregated from insurance company Annual Statements and from a national database of malpractice reports to estimate that social inflation added $2.4 billion to $3.5 billion to booked losses over the 10 years ending in 2021, which is between 8% and 11% of total losses. The authors' approach is to show growth in loss development factors, a metric that property/casualty actuaries use to estimate claim costs. This approach is explained in detail. The paper concludes with commentary on how risk managers can incorporate consideration of social inflation in their overall assessment of risk.

Medical negligence under pressure: obligations of clinicians and healthcare services in the setting of resource limitations.

Healthcare provision takes place in a variety of contexts, with variations of resources available to practitioners and their patients. Effects from the COVID-19 pandemic superimposed on existing system demands have driven increasing concern about resource limitations, particularly in rural and remote settings. This article explores the legal liability of medical practitioners and healthcare services with respect to actions in negligence arising from harm to patients suffered, either partly or wholly, as a result of resource limitations.

[Civil, administrative and criminal liability of medical workers].

From the point of view of legislation, medical care refers to the provision of services, however, the issues of legal responsibility of a medical worker, which is imposed in case of violation of the rights of a patient, are quite difficult and are characterized by controversial points for assessment. Today, a large number of complaints from patients are filed against doctors, requiring consideration by the competent authorities. The article considers the features of civil, administrative and criminal liability applied to medical workers.

Loss of chance: the uncertainty of the event or the uncertainty of the conduct? Case Series and Medicolegal Considerations.

Background: The concept of damages for loss of chance originated in France in 1877 and was adapted to healthcare in 1962. In Italy, it was first introduced in healthcare liability in 2004, with Civil Court of Cassation decision No. 4400. Italian jurisprudence recognizes the loss of chance as an independent, legally and economically assessable damage, distinct from the actual outcome lost. The landmark St. Martin Judgments of 2019 further established that such damages can be claimed if they involve appreciable, serious, and consistent values. This requires proving a causal link between the conduct and the lost chance, based on established civil law criteria. Case report: 1) a 71-year-old man whose lung carcinoma was not diagnosed in time, leading to a significant reduction in survival chances. 2) a woman whose breast cancer diagnosis was delayed, resulting in a more advanced stage and decreased survival prospects. Discussion: In medical professional liability, the Supreme Court requires a high probability or certainty of causation for recognizing the causal link between wrongful conduct and damage. The assessment involves proving both the causal link and the reasonable probability of a lost opportunity's realization. Hypothetical damage is insufficient for compensation. Conclusions: The compensability of loss of chance relies on proving the causal link between the negligent act and the uncertain event, where the impact on the patient's non-pecuniary sphere is significant. Medicolegal practice faces challenges in distinguishing between causality and damage, which can lead to confusion between biological damage and damage from loss of opportunity.