Mediator case, 4th generation pills … More and more general practitioners are questioned for their precriptions, according to the main insurer of health professionals.
A forgotten clamp in the abdomen, an infection contracted after an operation, or discomfort after taking a drug … every year, French people file a complaint against their doctor. In 2012, 2,187 declarations of disputes were registered by the MACSF with the 130,761 doctors it insures. A slight increase in claims, + 1.67% compared to 2011.
Unsurprisingly, technical platform specialists are the most pursued professionals. “Four surgeons out of ten are the subject of a declaration of bodily accident, a figure however slightly lower compared to 2011”, indicates Nicolas Gombault director of medical risk and legal protection. “For surgeons, complaints concern much more the care of patients preoperatively and, above all, postoperatively than the technical act. This change also concerns anesthetists ”.
Business impact
But, the main insurer of health professionals also notes an increase among general practitioners. One in a hundred is the subject of a questioning. And of the 505 claims for a general practitioner, 166 relate to a prescription problem. A Business Impact Mediator and 3 Pillse and 4e generation? “It is true that the prescription of drugs, iatrogenic, is more and more the occasion of litigation for the doctors, underlines Nicolas Gombault. This specialist recalls that the MACSF has more than 290 files under investigation for the Mediator with the National Office of Medical Accidents (ONIAM). “In 36% of cases, these are prescriptions outside of a Marketing Authorization, and a large majority of these cases concern general practitioners”, specifies the director of medical risk and legal protection.
Listen to Nicolas Gombault : director of medical risk and legal protection MACSF-Le Sou medical. ” Prescription outside the Marketing Authorization must be exceptional. “
If the number of insurance claims increases, are doctors condemned by the courts? No, because on the one hand the responsibility of the doctor is not always recognized (38% of cases were closed without follow-up in 2012), then because more and more cases are handled and settled by the conciliation commissions and compensation.
“In 2012, in view of our files, the number of court decisions is equivalent to the number of CCI opinions,” comments Nicolas Gombault. This indicates that these free conciliation procedures, resulting from the Kouchner law, are well established. “
Listen to Nicolas Gombault : ” Patients are usefully advised by associations on these remedies“.
American-style judicialization has not won over our health care system. But it should be noted that when sentences are passed, they can be very high. For example, for the year 2012, the insurer had to pay 4,911,600 euros in compensation for the birth of a child with cerebral palsy as a result of acute fetal suffering. managed by obstetricians and midwives. In criminal proceedings, ten doctors were sentenced to suspended prison sentences (less than a year) in 2012.
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