This Thursday, October 13, 2016, the Mutual Assistance Mutual of Health Professionals (MACSF) unveiled its report for the year 2015. We discover in particular the cost of medical errors : 60 million euros in just one year …
We can speak of “medical error” in several cases: a diagnostic error (when the health professional is wrong at the time of diagnosis, therefore), a treatment error (when inappropriate care is provided to a patient, or lead to unforeseen complications), a technical error (when there is improper handling of a health tool) …
In 2015, 2,091 bodily injuries related to medical errors were declared to the MACSF, compared to 2019 in 2014. 52 of them gave rise to criminal complaints; 589, to referrals to a conciliation and compensation commission (CCI).
The general practitioners are the most likely to declare claims, that is to say to be the subject of legal proceedings by their patients: there were 353 declarations in 2015, of which 48 were unresolved. A statistic that must however be taken with a grain of salt: indeed, general practitioners are also more likely to be registered with the MACSF … Second specialty on the podium: neurology, with 28 declarations – including 8 without follow-up.
Dentists, general practitioners and veterinarians
Much more impressive: the dentists, with 1,618 claims declared in 2015. This represents an increase of 49% in 6 years. On the other hand, these are mainly amicable complaints, which have not been the subject of legal proceedings.
Veterinarians are also represented (with 237 claims declared in 2015) as well as private clinics. Out of 547 declarations in 2015, they nevertheless recorded 442 bodily accidents.
Do you find these numbers scary? It gets worse: according to a national study published in the month of september 2014, general practitioners would make on average 1 mistake every 2 days … Ouch!
Source: MACSF.
To read :
Medical errors: 4 points to understand everything
Medical errors: how to get redress?
