[Medical error in theory and practice - a review of the most important issues].

In recent years, in Poland, despite the lack of an adverse medical events monitoring system, a sharp increase in the number of complaints to various medical and legal institutions, as well as court cases with a suspicion of a medical error, was found, based on the available reports and statistics, which poses a serious medical and legal. The aim of this study was to review the theoretical and practical issues of medical errors in the medico-legal context on the basis of the current legislation in Poland. This paper presents the conceptual scope and the evolution of terminology, starting from "error in the medical art/craft" up to the currently defined and used concept of "medical error." The problem of medical errors in medico-legal categories, according to Polish legal regulations and ethical standards in medicine, was also considered. Different classifications, as well as the causes and consequence of various medical errors, were analyzed. Based on current literature, Polish judicial decisions were reviewed, and some examples of legal rulings with respect to different categories of medical errors were presented. Given the ambiguity, both in conceptual and categorizing terms, with regard to adverse medical events: errors, negligence, malpractice and omission, it would be justified to adopt an unambiguous definition and classification. Such an arrangement would expand the possibilities of research in the field of etiology of medical errors, and more importantly, prepare such procedures that would maximally protect the patient, and allow the maximum reduction of the number of medical errors and any other adverse events. In addition, specifying the medical, legal and economic standards in medical units, and determining the scope of personal and institutional responsibility for undesirable medical events, would, in turn, improve the processing of claims made by patients or their families, as well as the activities of medical and legal institutions, including doctors appointed as court experts. Med Pr. 2020;71(5):613-30.

Puch EA ，Nowak-Jaroszyk M ，Swora-Cwynar E 《-》

Epidemiology of medico-legal litigations and related medical errors in Central and Northern Saudi Arabia. A retrospective prevalence study.

Henary BY ，Al-Yahia OA ，Al-Gabbany SA ，Al-Kharaz SM ... -  《-》

Do clinical incidents, complaints and medicolegal claims overlap?

Goldsmith P ，Moon J ，Anderson P ，Kirkup S ，Williams S ，Gray M ... -  《-》

[Briefing and accusation of medical malpractice--the second victim].

In June 2012, the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer) published the statistics of medical malpractice for 2011 [1]. Still ENT-specific accusations of medical malpractice are by far the fewest in the field of hospitals and actually even in the outpatient context. Clearly most of the unforeseen incidents still occur in the disciplines of trauma surgery and orthopedics. In total, however, an increasing number of errors in treatment can be noticed on the multidisciplinary level: in 25.5% of the registered cases, an error in treatment was found to be the origin of damage to health justifying a claim for compensation of the patient. In the year before, it was only 24.7%. The reasons may be manifold, but the medical system itself certainly plays a major role in this context: the recent developments related to health policy lead to a continuous economisation of medical care. Rationing and limited remuneration more and more result in the fact that therapeutic decisions are not exclusively made for the benefit of the patient but that they are oriented at economic or bureaucratic aspects. Thus, in the long term, practising medicine undergoes a change. According to the §§ 1, 3 of the professional code of conduct for doctors (Musterberufsordnung für Ärzte; MBO-Ä) medical practice as liberal profession is principally incompatible with the pursuit of profit, however, even doctors have to earn money which more and more makes him play the role of a businessman. Lack of personnel and staff savings lead to excessive workloads of physicians, caregivers, and nurses, which also favour errors. The quality and even the confidential relationship between doctor and patient, which is important for the treatment success, are necessarily affected by the cost pressure. The victims in this context are not only the patients but also the physicians find themselves in the continuous conflict between ethical requirements of their profession and the actual requirements of the realities in the healthcare field. But also the technical and scientific progress bear new risks beside the therapeutic successes, further especially bigger hospitals require high efforts regarding organisation favouring errors in cases of deficiencies. Even the increasing juridification of the medicine that is expected to achieve a provisional highlight with the planned law of patients' rights leads to an important focus on the quality of medical care [2]. The explicit legal regulation of patients' rights, which have never been out of question up to now, confirms the impression of patients who have to be protected from their doctors. This development favours a natural mistrust in the quality of the treatment and the desire of legal verification in cases of treatment failures. A totally perfect and error-free treatment, however, will never occur. Already this fact leads to the obligation to do everything possible to reduce the risk to an absolute minimum. The risks that might arise from a relation of treatment are manifold. Not only may the patient undergo risks that arise in particular from lacking or insufficient briefing, complications, or medical malpractice. Also the doctor has to fear legal consequences if he does not stick clearly to the increasing requirements that jurisdiction and legislation impose - not least by the planned law of patients' rights. In the following, the basic principles and particularities will be described that apply for the patients' briefing. Further the different types of medical malpractice will be explained in relation to the resulting procedural consequences. Finally some current problematic fields will be described with regard to other possible liabilities or responsibilities of physicians in hospitals or doctor's offices.

Wienke A 《-》

[Patient safety in poland according to analysis of medical adverse events].

Budzowska J ，Mikos M ，Juszczyk G ，Kiedik D ... -  《-》