Evaluation of Pediatric Malpractice Litigation Cases From Medico-Legal Point of View

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cases of malpractice claims that were referred to the V Specialty Board of the Council of Forensic Medicine (CFM). Material and Methods: From January 1, 2004 through December 31(st) 2006 a total of 105 cases due to pediatric malpractice claims had been referred to the CFM. These claims were evaluated with respect to age range, gender of the cases, death rates, medical institution and the responsible physician. Results: Detailed evaluation of the 105 cases showed that 85 (81%) of this ended up with death and included mostly infants up to 24 months. Malpractice appeared in 32 (30%) cases according to the Board's evaluation and diagnostic errors were the top cause of medical malpractice. Among the pathologies resulting in malpractice, lung infections, sepsis, pulmonary diseases of the newborn and gastrointestinal diseases were most common. Of the 112 physicians evaluated with respect to malpractice (66 pediatricians, 39 general practitioners and 7 from the other specialities), 21.2% of the pediatricians and 33.3% of general practicitoners were found responsible for the malpractice claims. Conclusion: Our findings showed that malpractice was quite common also in pediatric clinical services in our country. While malpractise claims were most common in children during the first two years of life, majority of these cases had lung infections. These findings again indicate the importance of careful clinical care of a pediatrician.