Obesity and trends in malpractice claims for physicians and surgeons

Weber, Cynthia E.; Talbot, Lindsay J.; Geller, Justin M.; Kuo, Marissa C.; Wai, Philip Y.; Kuo, Paul C.

doi:10.1016/j.surg.2013.04.026

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…According to the study, average claims and court costs overdoubled with time, while claim ceases as well as claims awarded payment decreased [12]. On the other hand, Weber et al reported that the percentage of claims for malpractice in bariatric surgery decreased, while the average compensation increased within a period of 20 years [13].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Medico-Legal Analysis of General Surgery Cases in Greece: A 48 Year Study

Tzoumas¹,

Samara²,

Tzoumas³

et al. 2021

Cureus

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IntroductionSurgery can be dangerous not only for patients, but it also carries a risk for the surgeon in case of medical error, which can affect their future medical career. The purpose of our research is to assess the current situation regarding medical liability in General Surgery in Greece, the reasons for the allegations of medical malpractice as well as the relationship between these issues and the court results. MethodsPublished court decisions of criminal, civil, administrative and disciplinary content were searched in legal information banks, between year 1973 and 2020. Court decisions were analyzed by an expert, a specialist general surgeon and an anesthesiologist, for the causes of death and the correctness of the court decision in collaboration with the lawyers of the investigation. Results588 court decisions were retrieved, out if which 103 (17.751%) criminal (n = 81), or civil and administrative decisions (n = 22) for surgeons. Out of a total of 81 first and second instance criminal cases and appellate court decisions of the Supreme Court, 27 cases concerned negligent homicide, 16 cases concerned negligent bodily harm and seven were acquittals. Out of 22 civil cases decisions, awarding or not awarding compensation, three cases concerned negligent homicide, seven bodily harm and two were acquittals. 11 cases of negligent homicide concerned laparoscopic and bariatric surgical procedures. ConclusionsLaparoscopic surgery represents one of the most important surgical developments in the last 30 years. However, they represent a great proportion of the cases concerning medical malpractice in the greek legal system. It is important to have a national center for reporting misdiagnosis and complications and a medical liability system that will facilitate improved diagnosis, learning from diagnostic errors and delays in diagnosis, in order to avoid similar cases of malpractice in the future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Medico-Legal Analysis of General Surgery Cases in Greece: A 48 Year Study

Tzoumas¹,

Samara²,

Tzoumas³

et al. 2021

Cureus

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A search of the WestLaw © database by the legal department of the institution of one of the authors did not reveal any reported court decisions on a malpractice case involving an emergency physician as the primary defendant where obesity was the defining patient characteristic. Similarly, a review in the surgical literature on the relationship between malpractice claims and obesity that evaluated all claims in the Physician Insurers Association of America database (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009) reported that emergency medicine was grouped with 16 other specialties with a small number of payouts (<10% of all cases in the database) (Weber et al, 2013). No study, to our knowledge, has surveyed emergency physicians on whether they perceive the rising prevalence in obesity as a risk factor for generating malpractice claims.…”

Section: Medicolegal Considerations -The Standard Of Carementioning

confidence: 99%