Medical Malpractices in Tehran Public Hospitals Referred to the Forensic Medicine Commission of Tehran Province in 2018: An Analytical Review

The current status of medical malpractice in Tehran medical centers remains unclear. However, understanding the situation may help the authorities carefully plan, continuously monitor, and consequently be sensitive to eliminate the shortcomings. Thus, the present study aimed at investigating the existing problems in this respect.

In the present descriptive and cross-sectional study, all patients complaining of the medical staff of public hospitals affiliated to 3 Medical Sciences Universities (i.e., Tehran, Iran, Shahid Beheshti, & Baqiyatallah) were evaluated concerning demographic characteristics, physicians’ genders, the type of hospital, the type of specialty, the type of staff, and reason for complaint (disability, death). The necessary information was collected using a data collection form. The obtained results were analyzed in SPSS using the Chi-square and Fisher’s Exact tests. P<0.01 was considered significant.

Most filed complaints were against hospitals affiliated to Tehran and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Medical Sciences, and 66% against private centers. Most cases won in the court were against general practitioners, dentists, general surgeons, and hospital technicians. The number of malpractices proven for teaching hospitals was significantly lower than that of non-teaching ones. Given the prevalence of plastic surgery in Iranian society, the number of complaints filed from female patients was two-thirds of males, almost 50% aged 21-40 years. For some reason, more than three-fourths of wrongful death complaints concerned female patients.

The medical malpractice complaints in hospitals are an integral part of physicians and nursing staff’s work; as the saying goes: an oral dictation has no errors.