Medical liability: Campania's white coats among the most exposed

Doctors in Campania are more exposed to errors and lawsuits from patients than many of their colleagues in the North. This fact was confirmed at a meeting in Naples by the Sumai medical union, which was analyzing the results of the Gelli-Bianco law two years after its approval. "Unfortunately, we haven't yet seen the expected improvements," emphasized Gabriele Peperoni, Sumai's national deputy secretary, "since the number of criminal complaints filed by patients against healthcare professionals has remained enormous." A press release reports this. "It's been recently reported that, according to estimates, in 2016 the overall percentage of doctors involved in legal proceedings, both civil and criminal, compared to the total number of insured persons, was decreasing in percentage terms, but in 2017, open claims, which can involve multiple professionals for the same adverse event, increased by 60% from 2016," the statement continues. "Clearly, a precise and timely assessment of a law that came into force on April 1, 2017, is still premature, even though the certainty on which the law was founded—namely, the identification of guidelines and predetermined models of virtuous conduct—unfortunately does not exist, or does not yet exist." "The Supreme Court of Cassation," says Luigi Sodano, director of the Sumai Trade Union Training School, "with Order 30998 has, in some ways, downgraded the value to be attributed to guidelines in medical professional liability proceedings, as they do not represent (according to the judges) "an insurmountable Procrustean bed," but merely a tool for evaluating a doctor's conduct, which, however, cannot ignore the analysis of the specific case." Another fact that emerged from the Naples meeting is that in the vast majority of cases, complaints involving doctors prove to be unfounded. Unfortunately, however, even though a significant percentage of complaints never reach trial because they are dismissed, it is equally true that reporting a complaint to a healthcare provider represents a negative moment in a doctor's professional life, with lasting repercussions. It is experienced with profound anxiety and anguish, especially given the (very long) time required to resolve it. Finally, it also represents a significant financial burden due to the hiring of lawyers and consultants for legal and technical defense. This is even more so today, given that insurance companies have increased premiums, indicating increased risk.