1. Legal Medicine – A local Approach
Dr Raed Hashem
Emergentologist & Traumatologist

2. Basket Patient Bill of Rights Standard of Care
Institutional complaints vs. Judicial litigation
Informed Consent
When mistakes/complications happen
Incident Report
The Kuwaiti judicial system
Statute of limitation

3. Basket LAMA Refusal of treatment Chaperone
Senior & junior duties and responsibilities
MRP & transfer of care
Doctor-patient altercation
Doctor-patient personal relationship
Airplane Emergencies

4. Today
1) An introduction to Legal Medicine
2) Elements of negligence

5. Where are we today? Legal Medicine & Medical Ethics
Legal Medicine teaching (doctor law degree)
US medical schools curriculum in Medical Ethics and Legal Medicine -> Mandatory hours/year PLUS elective courses
Legal Medicine & Medical Ethics in law schools.

6. Components of Legal Medicine
Medical ethics
Public health
Professionalism
Philosophy
Competence
Medical humanities
Medical malpractice
End of life
Treatment of special patients

7. Statistics in the US
44,000-98,000 die annually from medical negligence
OBGYN 19%
Gen Surgery 17%
Primary Care 16%
(NEJM – 2006)

8. Malpractice by specialty

9. Statistics 93% of malpractice cases settled prior to court hearing
7% make it to a court verdict
(US Bureau of Justice Statistics)
21% of verdicts plaintiff prevailed in court
(NEJM )

10. Statistics Only 14% are reported by hospitals
(US Department of Health and Human Services )
In-patients: Surgery errors 34%
Out-patient: Diagnostic errors 46%
(JAMA 2009)

11. Cost $35 Billions in 2009 (Congressional Budget Office Report – 2009)
2% of total healthcare expenditures

12. Definition Medical Negligence:
Legal cause of action involving the failure to exercise due care expected of a reasonable heath care provider under the same or similar circumstances, of like qualifications.

13. Standard of Care What is a Standard of Care”?
Standard of Care vs. “Common” Practice

14. Medical Negligence
Duty
Breach
Causation
Damages

15. Questions

16. Institutional complaint vs. Judicial litigation
Who is complaining?
Where is he complaining?

17. The Kuwaiti judicial system
How is the the Kuwaiti judicial system different than the legal system in other parts of the world?

18. Legal Medicine – A local Approach
Dr Raed Hashem
Emergentologist & Traumatologist – Amiri Hospital

19. Questions?