Plain access to justice and the orthodontist’s activity in Brazil: vulnerability in the professional practice in the face of risks of malpractice lawsuits

Abstract

Objective: the present study aimed at evaluating the risks and vulnerability of orthodontists to legal compensation actions and verifying the hypothesis of these health care professionals having little knowledge concerning their rights and obligations as service providers. Methods: Three groups were formed to participate in a semi-structured interview. The first group had thirteen law professionals, the second group was composed of eleven orthodontists and the third group was made up of nine randomly selected orthodontic patients. Results: Relevant aspects related to the exercise of the professional activity of orthodontists that influence on the vulnerability of orthodontists in lawsuits were identified. After transcription, reading, and comparing the answers of the interviews, items capable of influencing judicial decisions, from the standpoint of Brazilian Justice Courts, were evaluated. Conclusion: It was verified that Brazilian orthodontists do not have adequate formation concerning the legal consequences of the exercise of their professional activity. Orthodontists also failed to establish proper contractual relationship, organize orthodontic records, and, most importantly, failed in communicating the risks and the therapeutic processes to patients during all phases of treatment.

Why are brazilian orthodontists prosecuted and convicted? an overview of the contemporary jurisprudence

“…In the United States, these conflicts are ranked in the top of the motives behind lawsuits in Orthodontics (MACHEN, 1992) and may be explained by the different levels of education of patients, orthodontists and staff as well as their ability to manage daily situations in the dental office. Similarly, a recent study interviewed Brazilian Law professionals, orthodontists and orthodontic patients and found out that failure in patient-professional relationship was the main triggering factor behind a lawsuit (GUEDES et al, 2018).…”

Judicial Vulnerability on the Exercise of Orthodontics: Construction and Validation of a Questionnaire

“…The research project was submitted to and approved by the Ethics and Research Committee (Protocol number 1.403.552). On the first, qualitative stage, in-depth interviews were done with the intent of elaborating the instrument to evaluate the risks of being involved in lawsuits to which orthodontists are exposed [9]. On the second, quantitative stage, the questionnaire was applied to a group of orthodontists, aiming to validate the instrument.…”

“…The interviews were done directly by the researcher, with 13, 11 and 9 participants in each group, respectively. The interviews were analysed using Bardin's content analysis technique (qualitative phase) and the results generated 7 domains for the elaboration of the instrument [9].…”

“…Thus it is necessary to establish the vulnerable spots of dentists aiming to prevent such demands, from the personal treatment of the patients and an agreement on a safe contract on the phases of orthodontic treatment to its conclusion and post-treatment follow-up [9][10][11].…”

Social media and Dentistry: ethical and legal aspects

“…This picture has the deleterious ingredients necessary to promote unfair competition, the use of improper irregular advertising and the vilification of dental procedures. There are frequent examples and reports of practices that point to serious deficiencies in education in the areas of Ethics, Legislation, Marketing and Management applied to Dentistry 6 . Unfortunately, we cannot rule out the existence of possible cases of character flaws or bad faith.…”