There are approximately 16,000 complaints a year from patients for damages deriving from presumed medical errors and the amount of waste caused by the mismanagement of public health expenditure is incalculable. These are the arguments that motivated the establishment of a commission of inquiry in the Chamber of Deputies. The commission will be composed of 21 members and the appointment of the president is up to the president of the Chamber. It will have similar tasks, but a little broader, to the investigation into the National Health Service of the Senate chaired by Senator Ignazio Marino. "This commission – explained the honorable Domenico Di Virgilio, a member of the social affairs commission – will last until the end of the legislature and will report to Parliament whenever there is a need for urgent action". The commission will have the power to enter into the merits of the activity carried out by the Regions, to intervene directly in the fight against waste and will be given the possibility of immediate interventions. Inspections and hearings are planned, with the collaboration of experts. What will be acquired will be sent, if deemed useful, to the judicial authorities. The two commissions of the House and the Senate will divide the tasks to avoid overlaps. The launch of the Commission of Inquiry finds consensus at the Congress of Fiog, the Italian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology, as gynecologists represent one of the categories most at risk of litigation. "Finally it was decided to intervene - says Massimo Moscarini, co-president of the 1st FIOG Congress and Full Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Sapienza University of Rome - on two health problems that affect both citizens and doctors, in particular the gynecologists. The hope is that defensive medicine does not increase, but that it gives certainty to all the figures who work in the health sector". "We are satisfied with the launch of the commission of inquiry into medical errors - said Teresa Petrangolini, general secretary of Cittadinanzattiva - but we wonder how this can be reconciled with a bill on the decriminalization of medical crimes". The government has in fact announced some time ago the presentation of a bill to distinguish the criminal from the civil responsibilities of the doctor. spends five hundred million euros to insure itself against lawsuits for claims for damages.The sector in the lead is that of orthopedics with 18.7% of complaints. The complaints, according to estimates released by the federation of doctors' orders, would be over 16,000 a year, while the Patients' Rights Tribunal reveals that in 2007 it received 24,300 reports of medical errors or other health disservices. Ania, which brings together the 91% of the companies, denounces that in 10 years the total amount of compensation has doubled, going from 17,000 claims covered by 35 million euro premiums in 1995 to 28,500 disputes for 381 million premiums in 2005. The consequence of this is strong increases in insurance prices. Among the sectors most at risk are orthopedics (18.7% of reports), oncology (12.1%), general surgery (9.5%), gynecology and obstetrics (6.9%). The most expensive reimbursements instead concern deliveries with disabilities (from 2 to 4.5 million euros), the failure to diagnose fatal tumors (1 million) and serious orthopedic injuries (400 thousand euros).
Source:"HealthNews"
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