An increase in the number of cases of congenital syphilis is observed; the northern states are the ones that contribute the most to the statistics. There is a real need to refine the epidemiologic operations to detect and treat the cases of maternal and congenital syphilis in the country.

Violence in women with no social security is higher. Partner's alcohol intake pattern is an important risk factor. Detection of domestic violence in the clinical setting is necessary to recognize its real magnitude as a social problem.

This manuscript shows information in four main sections: sociodemographic characteristics, description of medical care, adverse events and their repercussions on health damages, evaluation of the medical act and conclusions of the arbitration process.

Background: Claims by health services users are a negative indicator of the care quality. To know the situations that originate them and their consequences are key issues to consider in order to design strategies to improve the quality of healthservices. This study analyzes the cases submitted to the National Medical Arbitration Commission with a final arbitration decision during the period 2011-2015, related to health service users younger than 15 years old. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. We analyzed information extracted from the reports with a final arbitration decision in the past 5 years, selecting those where the affected users were younger than 15 years old. Results: A total of 40 case arbitral awards were found, most of them involving pediatric services with a similar number of male and female users and a similar proportion in the extreme age groups, <1 year (32%) and 10-14 years (30%). The main cause of the complaint was related to diagnostic procedures (45%). An average of 8.7 adverse events per case was identified, most of them associated with procedures. Among the damages, there were 12 deaths and 9 permanent disabilities. There was evidence of malpractice in 65% of the cases and the sentence was condemnatory in 60% of the cases. Conclusions: This manuscript shows information in four main sections: sociodemographic characteristics, description of medical care, adverse events and their repercussions on health damages, evaluation of the medical act, and conclusions of the arbitration process.