Medical liability. The dilemma of litigations

OBJECTIVE: Most if not all of the physicians are ill prepared when it comes to facing a medical litigation. Having witnessed that first hand on numerous occasions made me decide to write on this issue to offer some insight and advice on the matter as it is obvious no one is immune in the medical profession. In addition, the number of medical litigation cases is on the rise. There is no doubt that the matter is of great importance not only to doctors, medical and dental students but also to other health care workers.

METHODS: The data of the cases submitted to the Medico-legal committee of the Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from various parts of the country for the period 1420 through to 1423 H (1999-2003) were examined and analyzed. A total of 2223 cases were referred to the various committees over the past 4-years for considerations.

RESULTS: Obstetrics lead the way in being the most litigation prone medical specialty. Surgery takes the second place followed by internal medicine pediatrics being the fourth in order of frequency. The other specialties are some where in between. Least number of malpractice lawsuits were filed against the dental profession.

CONCLUSION: Litigations can not be totally prevented but it could be limited to only the legitimate ones.