People in white coats: a medical error

In the modern world, the study of the work of doctors is gaining popularity. With the transition to paid medical services, it became impossible to leave without explanation such a notion as medical error. This article is devoted to this very issue. Let's try to figure it out.

Facts and Figures

It is not easy to talk about mistakes, especially if it concerns medical practice. After all, life is at stake, and the consequences of medical oversights are extremely serious - disability, incapacity, death. It is often impossible to anticipate and prevent negative consequences. The figures of world statistics on this issue are staggering. In the US, a medical error causes more than 70,000 deaths every year. In Germany, Great Britain, Italy, this indicator is almost at the same level - from 70 to 100 thousand people a year. Just think that every 15 minutes because of a doctor's mistake, four or five people die! In Russia, official statistics on this issue No, and it is unlikely to be. Since people who check and people who are being checked are in the same structure. But simply by analogy with the situation in developed countries, we can assume that the figures will be considerable. Especially if we take into account the state in which our domestic medicine is located. It is likely that a medical error can cost a life of 200 to 300 thousand people per year. The statements of well-known medical figures only confirm the conjecture. Chief pulmonologist of the country Alexander Chuchalin noted that in Russia the percentage of medical errors is about 30%. As an example, he cited the fact that out of 1.5 million diseases pneumonia the diagnosis was made only in 500 thousand cases. One of the main reasons for this situation, he called the lack of quality control in the country for the provision of medical assistance.
Professional ignorance or medical error

In the literature there are many interpretations of this term. But the Russian legislation does not provide for the concept of "medical error" and it is not determined how to qualify the actions of health workers in the event of an incident. Practice shows that for this it is necessary to decide whether there is fault or lack of it in the actions of the doctor and whether the latter bears legal responsibility for it. The doctors themselves believe that a medical error is the result of imperfections in science and technology and just an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances. This is not professional ignorance and not the result of negligence, and certainly not a criminal act. Therefore, if an error has occurred, then the doctor does not have any guilt, as there is no corpus delicti. Therefore, it is impossible to speak about bringing to legal responsibility . Other opinions are held by lawyers. Most often they act as prosecutors and try to prove that the doctor is guilty of a perfect mistake. But among them there is no common opinion: on the one hand, such cases can be considered as an innocent act that entailed causing harm; And on the other hand, a mistake is a circumstance that can mitigate the responsibility of the doctor.