[Death on the operating table. Anesthesiologic and medicolegal aspects]

Since death on the operating table is a relatively rare incident, it raises a number of special medicolegal questions that are discussed in this article. One of the major concerns for medical personnel is being accused of malpractice during treatment, as it is an obvious presumption on the part of laymen that death was directly related to the medical treatment as compared with other in-hospital deaths. Questions such as who is responsible for issues of informed consent and liability are discussed. Other important aspects such as communication with the bereaved, transparent chronological documentation of the death circumstances, questions regarding certification of death, questions arising from autopsy done to determine the reason of death, questions about malpractice, legal requirements concerning confidential medical communication and information about what must be sent to the professional indemnity insurance company are elucidated. There is also some special information presented for cases that involve the deaths of Jehovah's Witnesses.