Study on Medical Malpractice Claims Registered at the Complaint Handling Unit of Vice Chancellery for Treatment Affairs of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2012

In order to determine the rate of medical errors in hospitals and clinical settings, epidemiological studies are necessary to be conducted. This study was performed to investigate the medical malpractice lawsuits referred to the complaint handling unit of vice chancellery for treatment affairs of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2012.
In this cross-sectional study, a retrospective review on records of medical malpractice lawsuits registered at the complaint handling unit of vice chancellery for treatment affairs of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2012 was carried out.
In this study, 216 malpractice claims was reviewed, of which the majority of the plaintiffs (63.9%) were men. Given the age-groups, the majority of plaintiffs (50%) aged less than 40 years. Among defendants, the majority (68.5%) were men and most of them (72.2%) were between 40 and 60 years old. Regarding the academic ranks, 106 defendants (49.1%) were specialist, 7 subjects (3.2%) were clinical residents, 32 subjects (14.8%) were general practitioners and the rest were from other non-medical professions. In terms of the reason behind complaints, 77 cases (35.6%) were due to receiving extra fees other than ratified medical costs, 73 cases (33.8%) were due to dissatisfaction with the treatment process, 29 cases (13.4%) were due to medical interventions by uncertified persons, 21 cases (9.7%) were due to lack of accountability and inappropriate manner of medical staff and 16 cases (7.5%) were due to for various reasons such as lack of hygiene, unwarranted referral from public to private hospitals, etc.
The necessity of informing physicians and medical staff about the major causes of medical lawsuits, as well as the importance of increasing public awareness about the dangers of medical interventions by uncertified persons through the mass media should be taken into consideration more than ever.