[Medical errors and iatrogenic injury--results of 173 Schlichtungsstellen proceedings in general practice]

The Schlichtungsstelle (expert panel for alternative dispute resolution) of Northern Germany receives and decides on large numbers of malpractice claims. We report on 173 panel decisions on claims involving general practitioners: Medical negligence was found in 40%, and patient-injuries due to negligence in 28% of these cases. Treatment-caused injuries of the patient were also found in several of the cases decided against the claimant. In proceedings on the grounds of injections, 26 of 30 claimants concerned had suffered iatrogenic injuries. Treatment-caused injuries were severe in 40 of the 173 patients, fatal in 7. Injury rated and margins of error are much lower in industry than in medicine. Reviews of hospital records identified adverse events in 3-4% of hospitalized patients. Autopsy studies revealed that in 10-50% of cases the diagnosis verified postmortem had been missed clinically. Effective risk-management should be based on a trustful relationship among the persons working together: so that errors and adverse events might be discussed openly and the roles of persons, organization or system can be laid open.