Department of Radiology, National Institute of Health Care for Older People, Health Care Institution with Scientific Finalities, Rome, Italy.
AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2010 Apr;194(4):1040-6. doi: 10.2214/AJR.09.3457.
The purpose of this study is to assess the risk of medical malpractice litigation for Italian radiologists, compared with the corresponding data in the literature.
The insurance claims of Italian radiologists over the 1993-2006 period were anonymously assessed and classified according to the cause of the claim.
A total of 1,424 claims were filed during the examined period, with most claims being filed at a considerable time interval after the event (up to 10 years). The resulting incidence may be estimated as 44.2 cases per 1,000, meaning that 44% of Italian radiologists have received, or will receive, summons regarding their professional activity during the past 10 years.
The risk of medical malpractice litigation for Italian radiologists is by now comparable to that for American radiologists. Comparison with previous data concerning the same study population shows that the diagnostic errors category has surpassed all other error categories (nondiagnostic errors) and that, within the diagnostic errors category, claims for allegedly missed cancer have surpassed claims for allegedly missed bone abnormalities. Among missed diagnosis claims, the maximum increase concerned mammograms. Strict adherence to radiologic standards and radiotherapy protocols may be a means of reducing the risk of legal action and obviating litigation.
本研究旨在评估意大利放射科医生面临医疗事故诉讼的风险，并与文献中的相应数据进行比较。
对意大利放射科医生在 1993 年至 2006 年期间的保险索赔进行了匿名评估，并根据索赔原因进行了分类。
在研究期间共提出了 1424 项索赔，其中大多数索赔是在事件发生后相当长的时间间隔（长达 10 年）提出的。由此产生的发生率估计为每 1000 例 44.2 例，这意味着在过去 10 年中，44%的意大利放射科医生已经或将要收到与其专业活动有关的传票。
意大利放射科医生面临医疗事故诉讼的风险现已与美国放射科医生相当。与同一研究人群的先前数据进行比较表明，诊断错误类别已超过所有其他错误类别（非诊断错误），并且在诊断错误类别中，据称漏诊癌症的索赔超过了据称漏诊骨异常的索赔。在漏诊诊断索赔中，最大的增加涉及乳房 X 光检查。严格遵守放射学标准和放射治疗方案可能是降低法律诉讼风险和避免诉讼的一种手段。
