Ordinal disciplinary responsibility of the certifying physician

Writing medical certificates is part of the doctor's daily practice.

To analyze the complaints related to medical certificates filed to the Regional Council of the Order of Doctors (RCOD) of Tunis and to identify the predictive factors of disciplinary sanctions.

We collected the complaints filed to the RCOD of Tunis between 01/01/2017 and 31/12/2017, in relation to a problem with the establishment and/or the issuance of medical certificates by registered certifying doctors at RCOD, Tunis.

We collected 32 complaints, the reason for which was a certificate of convenience in 88% of cases, a drafting error in 9% of cases and a fee problem in 3% of cases. The decision of the RCOD was a closing of the file in 56% of cases, a call to order in 28% of cases and a temporary ban on practicing medicine in 16% of cases.The multivariate analysis with logistic regression identified one independent predictor of a call to order or a sanction from the RCOD, namely the fact that the doctor did not bring the file of the patient(s) having been the subject of the complaint, at the time of his invitation to RCOD Tunis (p=0.037, OR=22.66).

The doctor must always keep a medical form or a patient file, which will allow him to justify himself in the event of a complaint against him, for the reason of a certificate of convenience.