School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2010 Feb 26;10:53. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-10-53.
In Japan, medical error leading to patient death is often handled through the criminal rather than civil justice system. However, the number of cases handled through the criminal system and how this has changed in recent years has not previously been described. Our aim was to determine the trend in reports of patient death to the police and the trend in the resulting prosecution of healthcare providers for medical error leading to patient death from 1998 to 2008.
We collected data regarding the number of police reports of patient death made by physicians, next-of-kin, and other sources between 1998 and 2008. We also collected data regarding the number of resulting criminal prosecutions of healthcare providers between 1998 and 2008. Reporting and prosecution trends were analyzed using annual linear regression models.
The number physician reports of patient deaths to the police increased significantly during the study period (slope 18.68, R2 = 0.78, P < 0.001) while reports made by next-of-kin and others did not. Mean annual reporting rates by group were physicians 130.1 (+/- 70.1), next-of-kin 29.3 (+/- 12.5), and others 10.4 (+/- 6.0). Prosecutions: The number of resulting criminal prosecutions increased significantly during the study period (slope 9.21, R2 = 0.83, P < 0.001). The mean annual prosecution rate was 61.0 (+/- 33.6).
The reporting of patient deaths to the police by physicians increased significantly from 1998 to 2008 while those made by next-of-kin and others did not. The resulting criminal prosecutions of healthcare providers increased significantly during the same time period. The reasons for these increases are unclear and should be the focus of future research.
在日本，导致患者死亡的医疗差错通常通过刑事司法系统而不是民事司法系统来处理。然而，通过刑事系统处理的案件数量以及近年来的变化情况此前尚未描述。我们的目的是确定从 1998 年到 2008 年期间向警方报告患者死亡的趋势，以及由此导致的对导致患者死亡的医疗差错的医疗保健提供者进行刑事起诉的趋势。
我们收集了 1998 年至 2008 年间医生、近亲及其他来源向警方报告的患者死亡数量的数据。我们还收集了 1998 年至 2008 年期间对医疗保健提供者进行的刑事起诉的数量数据。使用年度线性回归模型分析报告和起诉趋势。
在研究期间，向警方报告的医生报告的患者死亡数量显著增加（斜率 18.68，R2 = 0.78，P <0.001），而近亲及其他人的报告则没有增加。各报告组的年平均报告率分别为医生 130.1（+/-70.1），近亲 29.3（+/-12.5），以及其他人 10.4（+/-6.0）。起诉：在研究期间，导致刑事起诉的数量显著增加（斜率 9.21，R2 = 0.83，P <0.001）。平均年起诉率为 61.0（+/-33.6）。
从 1998 年到 2008 年，医生向警方报告患者死亡的数量显著增加，而近亲及其他人的报告则没有增加。同时期，对医疗保健提供者的刑事起诉也显著增加。这些增加的原因尚不清楚，应成为未来研究的重点。
