Journal de recherche médico-légale

Screening of Alleged Medical Malpractice in Egypt (Fayoum Governorate)

Abstract

Marwa A Mwaheb

Background and Objectives: Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a physician deviates from required substandard and causes deterioration, disability, harm or death to a patient. This study documented all the reported malpractice cases according to the forensic medicine authority in Fayoum Governrate in the in the course of regular and proper health service
Methods: All cases of medical malpractice claims of several medical specialties referred to the Forensic Medicine Authority, in 2012-2016 were checked (n=55).
Results: The present study shows that 87.3% of the study group were adults, and 12.7% of them were children, 50.9% of them were males and 49.1% were females, and as regards to the place of residence, 47.3% of the victims were from urban places. The study has also pointed out that the majority of malpractices occurred in general hospitals (67.3%), more than in clinics and private hospitals. The 40% of malpractice were complications of surgery, then 23.6% of them were due to negligence, then 21.8% of patients had medication errors, and the least percentage of 14.5% had forgotten gauze and the majority of malpractices occurred in obstetrics and gynaecology which represent (36.4%) of the cases.
Conclusion: It is extremely essential to analyse the errors properly in order to get the medical malpractice under control to avoid incidence of litigation and to propose professional standards as well as accurate references in connection with medico-legal procedures.