Medico legal aspects of medical malpractice dead cases in Cairo and Giza governorates from 2014–2015

Abstract

Background: In Egypt, as elsewhere around the world, there are more medical malpractice claims and lawsuits being brought against doctors and hospitals. The present study attempts to identify the medico-legal aspects of medical malpractice cases, determine the most frequent causes of medical errors, and the most medical specialities facing this problem and their qualifications. Find out the positive cases from the negative ones, and determine the causes of their death. Methods: This study is a retrospective descriptive observational study of medical malpractice dead cases in Cairo and Giza governorates from the available records and reports of the Forensic Medical Authority from the 1st of January 2014- to the 1st of January 2015 which included 112 cases with alleged medical malpractice dead cases. The outcomes of forensic autopsies were used to distinguish between positive and negative cases. Results: According to the socio-demographic data of the claimed cases, the female cases (53.6%) dominated the male cases (46.4%). The majority of accusations of medical errors were submitted due to negligence (73.68%), followed by complications within surgical therapy (15.79%). In the study, claims against obstetricians were the highest (24.1%), followed by those against anesthesiologists (20.5%), and general surgeons (17%). university hospitals have the highest percentage of positive cases (75%), followed by insurance hospitals (25%), private hospitals (15.6%), and public hospitals (11.1%). Conclusions: The majority of the studied cases were female. Obstetricians had the most accusations in the study and the most positive cases. The most frequent medical error in the study is negligence. All of the study's cases of obstructed labour are positive, but none of the cardiac arrhythmia or heart failure cases are. The majority of cases at university hospitals were positive and the majority of cases at public hospitals were negative.