A Five-Year Survey for Plastic Surgery Malpractice Claims in Rome, Italy

Abstract

(1) Introduction: Medical malpractice claims against both health institutions and physicians are a crucial topic in Italy, as well as in other countries, particularly regarding civil proceedings. Our study reports an analysis of all of the malpractice judgments concerning plastic surgery decided in the Civil Court of Rome between 2012 and 2016. (2) Methods: the database of the Observatory Project on Medical Responsibility (ORMe) was analyzed, which collects all of the judgments of the Civil Court of Rome, that is, the first instance district court. Therefore, neither the jurisprudence of the second level court nor that of the Supreme Court was taken into account. (3) Results: 144 judgments concerning plastic surgery were delivered in the five-year period of 2012–2016 (corresponding to 10.6% of total professional liability verdicts of the Civil Court of Rome in the same period). In 101/144 cases (70.14%), the claim was accepted. A total of €4,727,579.00 was paid in compensation for plastic surgery malpractice claims, with a range from a minimum amount of €1555.96 to a maximum amount of €1,425,155.00 and an average compensation of €46,807.71 per claim that was significantly lower compared to other surgical disciplines. (4) Conclusions: Our data confirm that the analyzed branch has a high litigation rate, with a prevalence of convictions for cosmetic procedures over reconstructive ones, both for malpractice and for violation of the informed consent. Plastic surgery is also confirmed among those branches in which the professionals are more frequently sued compared to health institutions.

Medico-Legal Aspects of Hospital-Acquired Infections: 5-Years of Judgements of the Civil Court of Rome

“…According to an example reported in a paper published in 2003 by an eminent scientific journal, the observance of hand washing in hospitals ranges from 16% to 81% [ 15 ] a wide variability affecting both patients’ health and, as discussed above, judgment outcomes The data reported show that the surgical area is the most involved with 54% of cases concerning only three branches: orthopedics, cardiac surgery, and general surgery. These data, substantially in line with what is reported in the scientific literature [ 16 , 17 , 18 ], confirms the data relating to SSIs’ incidence, representing the subject matter of the litigations in 93 out of 140 cases (including both fatal and non-fatal injuries) for a total of EUR 8,782,343.41 of compensation paid. With reference to the health costs deriving from SSIs, it is estimated that about 60% of cases might be prevented by complying with the existing guidelines, that patients were exposed to a risk of death 2 to 11 times higher, and that over 70% of these deaths were specifically attributable to SSIs.…”

The Impact on Healthcare Workers of Italian Law n. 24/2017 “Gelli–Bianco” on Patient Safety and Medical Liability: A National Survey

“…Law n.24 is still being implemented, and several years are needed to assess the effects on patient safety culture and litigation prevention to achieve the stated goals by monitoring adverse events and reducing medical liability and the costs of the healthcare system [ 29 , 30 ]. Several studies suggested that educational programs and patient safety culture improvement lead to a reduction in the number of adverse events and greater patient and HCW safety perspectives in healthcare facilities [ 31 , 32 , 33 ].…”

Socio-Demographic, Professional and Institutional Characteristics That Make Romanian Doctors More Prone to Malpractice Complaints

“…For plastic surgery, studies show that most complaints are related to patients' dissatisfaction with the results of cosmetic interventions [27,46]. In this regard, some authors suggest that complaints arise due to poor and unclear information about the expectations that patients should have after cosmetic interventions [27,47]. In addition, studies that targeted only plastic surgeons showed a 2.5 times higher risk among doctors who focus on cosmetic interventions in their practice, compared with others [27].…”