The evaluation of medical malpractice claims: Creating a Standard Approach Model Using the Delphi Method

Complaints about alleged medical malpractice have increased over time in Turkey, as well as other countries around the world. And it is often the subject of debate in health law and medical law. It can be seen that discussions are underway on "standard of care" which is highlighted in the finalization of claims for medical malpractice. In this case, the expert opinion offered to be the key point for the cases. In the expert opinion, there seems to be differences in approach and procedure. However, the period of determination of whether health professionals provide the expected minimum standard of care needs to be analyzed in a standard way. In addition to standard, objective and scientific evaluation of the evidence of liability for the medical malpractice claims by the experts, it is aimed to create an algorithm that will facilitate the evaluation by the judicial authorities. The aim of this research is to provide minimum common denominator which will be the standard approach model for the experts in the evaluation of medical malpractice claims. The Delphi method was used as a tool for the panelists to express their opinions freely without being under the influence of each other and to reveal different ideas. The research conducted with 11 panelists consist of forensic medicine experts, clinicians, and a lawyer between January 2017 and September 2017. This research will impact the forensic science and law community by serving the evaluations of the experts in medical malpractice claims whether evaluations are based on methodological and logical considerations and the scientific validity of the evaluations is objective or not.