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Published on: April 29, 2014
Court decisions in criminal proceedings for dental malpractice in Taiwan
King-Jean Wu1, Yi-Wen Chen2, Chu-Chun Chou3
1Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; College of Oral Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan.
Background/Purpose:
Malpractice claims place heavy economic and emotional burdens on both dentists and patients. Recently, medical malpractice lawsuits are decreasing in prevalence but increasing in severity. The percentage of dental malpractice payments is also growing among the health profession. The present study aimed to explore criminal convictions in dental malpractice litigation and to analyze the factors affecting the judgment in dental disputes in Taiwan.
Methods:
The keywords "dentist," "professional negligence," "medical malpractice," and "professional liability" were used to search Taiwan's Law and Regulations Retrieving System for criminal dental malpractice cases in all district courts from January 1, 2000 to June 30, 2021. The eligible judgments were summarized and analyzed.
Results:
Overall, 425 cases were identified, with 28 dental disputes included in the final analysis. The dentists lost in 10 cases (35.7%). The average claim time was 36.75 ± 16.34 months. Taipei and Taichung dealt with more lawsuit cases (n = 8). Local clinics were the most common institution of the defendants (75%) and had the highest number of convictions (n = 9). Implant dentistry was the most common specialty involved. Expert testimony of the Medical Review Committee (MRC) had a high K coefficient of agreement with court judgments regarding professional negligence (p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
The overall criminal conviction rate was 35.7%. Implant therapy and local clinics had the highest rate of lawsuits and a considerably higher conviction rate. All guilty dentists were fined or given probation. The court judgments were highly consistent with the expert testimony of the MRC.
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