PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Basem Y. Henary
AU  - Omar A. Al-Yahia
AU  - Saleh A. Al-Gabbany
AU  - Salah M. Al-Kharaz
TI  - Epidemiology of medico-legal litigations and related medical errors in Central and Northern Saudi Arabia. A retrospective prevalence study
DP  - 2012 Jul 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 768--775
VI  - 33
IP  - 7
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/33/7/768.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/33/7/768.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2012 Jul 01; 33
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study medico-legal litigations and related medical errors in Central (Al-Qassim), and Northern (Hael) districts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and to identify types and causes of errors to reduce medical errors and patient harm.METHODS: This retrospective prevalence study was carried out between May 2010 and December 2011 to analyze medico-legal litigations in Al-Qassim and Hael districts that were investigated by the Al-Qassim Medico-Legal Committee, Al-Qassim, KSA. Final verdicts issued between 1992 and 2009 included 293 cases.RESULTS: The patient&#039;s mean age was 29.5 years. Fifty-seven percent of the patients were females, and 92% were Saudis. The Obstetric and Gynecology department was involved in 29.7% of litigations followed by General Surgery, and Pediatrics (11.3% each). Of the 635 defendants, 90% were physicians, and 7.6% were nurses. Investigations showed no error in 47.1% of cases, error but no harm in 11.9%, and error resulted in harm in 39.6%. Errors were negligence (45.8%), wrong diagnosis (14.2%), surgical error (10.3%), and administrative error (5.2%). The average total duration of litigations was 13.9 months. Type of harm was the most significant predictor to determine a guilty decision (p&amp;lt;0.001).CONCLUSION: Obstetric practice in Al-Qassim and Hael districts and provider negligence contribute to a large portion of medico-legal litigations, and therefore this has to be further studied to recognize the specific causes and possible interventions. A systematic review of the medico-legal committee is needed to shorten the long duration of litigation.