| Medical malpractice: the experience in Italy. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 18985423 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
At the present time, legal actions against physicians in Italy number about 15,000 per year, and hospitals spend over 10 billion euros (approximately US$15.5 billion) to compensate patients injured from therapeutic and diagnostic errors. In a survey summary issued by the Italian Court for the Rights of the Patient, between 1996 and 2000 orthopaedic surgery was the highest-ranked specialty for the number of complaints alleging medical malpractice. Today among European countries, Italy has the highest number of physicians subject to criminal proceedings related to medical malpractice, a fact that is profoundly changing physicians' approach to medical practice. The national health system has paid increasingly higher insurance premiums and is having difficulty finding insurance companies willing to bear the risk of monetary claims alleging medical malpractice. Healthcare costs will likely worsen as Italian physicians increasingly practice defensive medicine, thereby overutilizing resources with the goal of documenting diligence, prudence, and skill as defenses against potential litigation, rather than aimed at any patient benefit. To reduce the practice of defensive medicine and healthcare costs, a possible solution could be the introduction of an extrajudicial litigation resolution, as in other civil law countries, and a reform of the Italian judicial system on matters of medical malpractice litigation. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Francesco Traina |
Related Documents
:
|
10244383 - The human dimension. 12886933 - Finance issue brief: insurer liability: year end report-2002. 10824383 - Telemedicine and decision support in emergency ambulances in uppsala. |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article; Review Date: 2008-11-05 |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Clinical orthopaedics and related research Volume: 467 ISSN: 1528-1132 ISO Abbreviation: Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. Publication Date: 2009 Feb |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2009-01-19 Completed Date: 2009-02-10 Revised Date: 2010-09-23 |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 0075674 Medline TA: Clin Orthop Relat Res Country: United States |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 434-42 Citation Subset: AIM; IM |
Affiliation:
|
First Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Laboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Via di Barbiano 1/10, 40136, Bologna, Italy. traina@tecno.ior.it |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Contracts Humans Informed Consent / legislation & jurisprudence Italy Liability, Legal / economics Malpractice / economics, legislation & jurisprudence, statistics & numerical data* Physician-Patient Relations Physicians / legislation & jurisprudence, statistics & numerical data State Medicine / economics, legislation & jurisprudence |
| Comments/Corrections | |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Complementary and alternative medicines in ankylosing spondylitis: a cross-sectional study.
Next Document: The role of SK calcium-dependent potassium currents in regulating the activity of deep cerebellar nu...