[The physician's liability from the viewpoint of a university surgery department]

Malpractice suits against physicians have increased tremendously during the last years. We have analysed 108 cases with alleged malpractice. Twenty-two suits had not been settled yet at the time of this study. The documents were not available in twenty-one cases. There were court decisions in 65 cases. Fourty-eight times the accused physicians could be exculpated. In 12 cases a settlement out of court could be reached. The accused physician was found guilty in 4 cases. Reduction in the number of malpractice suits can be achieved in our opinion by exact documentation of clinical findings and laboratory results as well as by a better and more detailed information of the patients.