Medical liability in France: analysis of claims in otorhinolaryngology

Claims against surgeons have increased considerably in Europe and North America. Ear nose and throat (ENT) physicians appears to be little affected by civil, administrative, criminal or disciplinary claims. Our objective was to conduct a comprehensive review of claims pertaining to ENT physicians in France.

A retrospective study including criminal, civil, administrative, and disciplinary claims against French ENT physicians between 2010 and 2023 was conducted. All claims against ENT physicians related to medical malpractice, over-invoicing and non-professional human behavior were included. The French legal system is structured around four main jurisdictions: criminal, civil, administrative, and disciplinary. Descriptive analyses of claims were made according to the four jurisdictions, the jurisdictional court involved, the type of malpractice, the outcome (conviction or dismissal), the type of sentence and the reasons for convictions.

Among 2688 claims screened, 88 claims (3%) were related to ENT procedures. Claims most frequently concerned medical malpractices (70%, 62/88), with otology (23%, 20/88) as first subspecialty followed by rhinology (20%, 18/88), over-invoicing issues (21%, 18/88), and non-professional human behaviors (9%, 8/88). Among all claims, 67% (59/88) resulted in a conviction and concerned medical malpractice in 59% (35/59), over-invoicing issues in 29% (17/59) of cases, and non-professional human behavior in 10% (6/59).

Criminal, civil, administrative, and disciplinary claims against ENT physicians frequently result in convictions. ENT physicians must be vigilant regarding the information they provide to patients, their surgical indications, and compliance to the established procedures validated by learned societies.