Ethical proceedings against dentists in Espírito Santo for infringements to the code of dental ethics

Abstract

Just like any other profession, dentistry requires ethical and moral responsibilities that must be fulfilled, and the duty of every professional is to meet his obligations under the law. In light of the Código de Ética Odontológica (CEO -Code of Dental Ethics), this research aims to expound on the ethical violations committed by dentists in their practice, according to the ethical review process proposed by the Conselho Regional de Odontologia do Estado do Espírito Santo (CRO/ES -Regional Council of Dentistry of the State of Espírito Santo). The study is both retrospective and descriptive, using a quantitative approach. Data collection comprised all the ethical proceedings filed at the CRO/ES, between the years 2000 and 2011. Considering the 529 cases examined, the most frequent reason for infringement was illicit advertising (39.7%), followed by technical error (18.7%), irregular registration (16.8%), patient/ professional relationship (11.3%) tax lien foreclosure (6.6%), professional/professional relationship (4.0%), irregular/illegal cover up practice (0.9%), consumer relations (0.8%), failure to provide care (0.6%), false certification (0.4%), and disrespect for authority and colleagues (0.2%). Most (59.2%) of the dental surgeons (DSs) involved were male, 35.5% were between 31 and 40 years of age, 85.8% had graduated over five (5) years prior, and 73.2% were general practitioners. Only 22 (4.2%) cases went to trial, resulting in 8 (36.4%) acquittals and 14 (63.6%) convictions. The most commonly applied penalties were private warning + pecuniary penalty (8 or 57.1%). It was concluded that the CEO must be followed with more discipline, and that professionals should seek information about their duties and obligations under the law, on behalf of patient welfare.

Civil liability: characterization of the demand for lawsuits against dentists

“…Men are sued more often on the grounds of ethical issues as well, as observed by Pacheco et al 4 , who found that male dentists represented 59.2% of cases in an analysis of 529 ethical lawsuits filed in the state of Espírito Santo.…”

“…This fact can be ascertained by analyzing and comparing surveys conducted by De Paula et al 1 and by Wanderley and Lima et al 2 in the Courts of Justice of Brazilian states, with an increase of more than 380% between 2000 and 2011. This phenomenon may be attributed to an increase in the number of healthcare professionals and, consequently, in the number of clinics; to an increase in the share of the population that has access to dental services; to a population who is more knowledgeable of their rights, and who, therefore, pursues legal action more often 3,4 ; and to the growth in the number of lawyers specialized in this area 5,6 . According to Ferrara 7 , the increase observed in the number of lawsuits results from post-modern Western society's cultural, social, structural and economic factors.…”

E-learning em emergências médicas para estudantes de Odontologia

“…It was also observed that students were unaware of the ethical and legal aspects related to medical emergencies, which was also found by Albelaihi et al (2017) 14 . Knowledge about ethical aspects of medical emergencies that have legal consequences for practicing dentistry must be taught 15,16 . Students from this study were also not technically prepared to perform rescue maneuvers in case of complications 17 , emphasizing yet again the importance of basic life support content in dental curricula 13 .…”

Dental and medical advertising: comparative analysis of the rules of professional conduct

“…Between 2000 and 2011, approximately 40% of the ethical suits instituted against dentists by the Regional Council of Dentistry (RCD) of Espírito Santo 15 were driven by illegal advertising. In 2012, only 5% of the open lawsuits referred to illegal medical advertisement in the Regional Council of Medicine (RCM) of São Paulo.…”