There are questions about the dimensions and fate of medical malpractice cases after the Ministries of Justice and Health announced the completion of the transfer of the competencies of the legitimate health bodies from the Ministry of Health to the general judiciary to adjudicate medical malpractice cases, after signing an executive memorandum of understanding in the presence of the Minister of Justice, Dr. Walid Al-Samaani, and the Minister of Health, Fahd Al-Jalajel.
It awaits the settlement and deterrence of medical malpractice claims before the courts during decisive and speedy judicial sessions that redress patients for the mistakes of doctors and hospitals if they are convicted, which is a step that contributes to strengthening the rights of patients.
The Ministry of Justice stated that the terms of reference of the Sharia health bodies that will be considered by the courts are cases of medical errors, and consideration of professional errors related to the private right. such as blood money, compensation and bribes, as well as health professional errors that result in death, damage to a member of the human body, or loss of its benefit or some of it even if there is no claim for private right, and also consideration of the responsibility of private health institutions for professional medical errors related to private right or general.
The Ministry of Health considered that the transfer of the jurisdiction of the Sharia health bodies to the public judiciary contributes to the speedy completion of cases. Including medical errors, and standardizing the reference for jurisdiction in cases to the Ministry of Justice, as the Ministry of Health works to develop the health sector, raise the efficiency of health services and improve them, and bring about a shift in the quality and speed of service provided to citizens and residents.
Translators for non-Arabic speakers
The Supreme Judicial Council has established a number of specialized departments to handle disputes in the Court of Appeal and the General Court in Riyadh. The Ministry of Justice provided a simultaneous translation service for remote attendance sessions for non-Arabic speakers through the unified translation center in the ministry, in addition to cooperating with the Health Specialties Authority through the Ministry of Justice's "Experience" platform to provide the experts required by medical malpractice claims.
The Minister of Justice, Dr. Walid Al-Sama'ani, expressed his thanks to the Minister of Health and the joint work team from both sides for the effective partnership and high professionalism that accompanied the transition process, which reflects the extent of integration and cooperation between the two sides.
Crohn's not cancer!
In a similar incident, a young banker in a bank was subjected to a medical error in a private hospital regarding the diagnosis of stomach ulcers. According to the details, the gastroenterologist in the private hospital issued a report that he had an incurable and incurable disease in the colon, which led him to leave his job and enter into a bad psychological state and debts before the medical committees of the Ministry of Health decided that he was fully healthy and not infected with the alleged disease. The young man suffered colitis and part of it was removed in a private hospital, and God blessed him with recovery. At the beginning of the year, he went to a private hospital and underwent an endoscopy and biopsy, and the surprise came that he was suffering from a chronic disease that causes disability, and there is no cure for it. Its name is Crohn's. A medical report was issued.
One million riyals for quadriplegia
In another case, the Court of Appeal approved a ruling issued by the Sharia Health Authority obligating a medical team consisting of 3 doctors, including a consultant and a specialist in anesthesia, in a medical facility, to compensate a father and mother of Arab nationality in the amount of one million riyals, after convicting the medical team of causing a mistake during The birth resulted in the newborn suffering from cerebral palsy, which led to the disruption of all limbs.
According to the facts, the parents demanded compensation in the amount of 100 million riyals, for the expenses and treatment of their paralyzed child as a result of the medical error, and compensation for at least the next 40 years to cover what was spent and what their son needs in order to treat, care and rehabilitate him, as he is paralyzed, which leads to a stop. Its movement activities that are accompanied by side effects, deformities, muscle atrophy and other negative effects on the body structure. The case filed by the father of the child witnessed several sessions during which the competent circuit heard the parties to the case, and concluded that the medical facility was convicted and obligated to compensate the child with one million riyals for the damages incurred, and the Court of Appeal ratified the ruling and it became final.
Rejection of the father of the twins
The Sharia Health Authority in Jeddah issued a ruling acquitting a private hospital of a medical error in the twins' death lawsuit, and the twins' father said that he would continue his lawsuit by requesting legal blood money, and claiming the exorbitant treatment costs for his wife and third twin daughter.
The husband said before the Health Authority that his wife had become pregnant with 3 twins after a long treatment, and accused the hospital of negligence and negligence, which caused the death of the twins. And exposed to premature birth, and the committee considered the safety of the procedures that were presented to the patient, and the health authority concluded that the father’s lawsuit was rejected.
Promote the safety and rights of patients
Minister of Health Fahd Al-Jalajil said: The agreement comes in the way of structural reforms of the health system in the Kingdom, expressing his thanks to the Minister of Justice, and to all the joint work team between the two ministries for the integration and cooperation that achieves the provision of the best health services to the beneficiaries. He stressed that the transfer of legal health bodies to the public judiciary comes in order to enhance patient safety and care for rights, and complements the establishment of the Patient Safety Center and the expansion of the application of insurance against medical errors and the organization of the work of government practitioners in the private sector, and added that this procedure will contribute to the speedy completion of cases. ; Including medical errors, unifying the reference for jurisdiction in cases to the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Health works to develop the health sector, raise the efficiency of health services and improve them, and bring about a shift in the quality and speed of service provided to citizens and residents.
The Supreme Court considers the objections
A circular was issued to all courts containing the decision of the Supreme Judicial Council, which stipulated transferring the competence of the legitimate health bodies stipulated in Article 34 of the Health Professions Practice Law and Article 22 of the Private Health Institutions Law to the public judiciary. And the circular indicated that the spatial jurisdiction is held in the consideration of these cases by the General Court in Riyadh and the Court of Appeal in the Riyadh region, and the competent departments may hold their sessions “remotely” through the systems of the Ministry of Justice. The circular states that 8 judicial circuits shall be established in the General Court in Riyadh, each consisting of 3 judges, and shall be specialized in examining claims of health professional errors, and shall be named according to the sequence of the general circuits in the court. The circular included that two judicial circuits be established in the Court of Appeal in the Riyadh region, each consisting of 3 judges, and is specialized in examining objections to rulings and decisions issued by the departments concerned with examining claims of health professional errors, and it is named according to the sequence of legal departments in the court.
The circular stressed that all cases registered with the Sharia health bodies that are still under consideration and no decision has been issued should be referred to the competent court, provided that the Sharia health bodies continue to complete the consideration of ending the cases registered with them in which preliminary decisions were issued without prejudice to what was stated in the specific procedures. Until a final decision is issued that includes a decision on the case for consideration.
The circular revealed that requests for reconsideration are submitted to the competent courts in terms of state and location, while the third legal circuit in the Supreme Court is concerned with examining objections to rulings issued in health professional malpractice cases. Until the departments assume their competence, and the Chairman of the Council directs them to do so.
65% of complaints are against private hospitals
Obstetrics and gynecology consultant, former member of the Additional Forensic Medical Authority in Jeddah Governorate, Dr. Intisar Al-Tailoni, revealed that 65% of the complaints considered are against private hospitals and clinics, compared to 35% against public sector facilities. He attributed this to the lack of qualified doctors to perform operations, in addition to the fact that some doctors in some medical facilities or clinics request operations or analyzes that the patient does not need, which leads to them making big mistakes and incurring additional costs for the patient.
According to Al-Taylouni, who worked in forensic medical bodies specialized in investigating complaints of medical errors for about 15 years, 2% of the cases filed due to a medical error led to death, while the remaining percentage represents cases related to medical errors that led to complications, loss of benefit, or failure of the operation. Or ask the patient to recover the money he paid for the treatment. According to Al-Taylouni, the death rate in cases related to childbirth from the complaints received amounted to 35% (mothers and newborns), and 65% is disability or temporary loss of benefit.
How do you file a complaint?
Regarding the legal dimensions of the decision to transfer the specializations of the Sharia Health Authority to the public judiciary, Attorney Bandar Hussein Al-Amoudi said that it is considered an important step that will have positive repercussions in terms of developing the justice system and the judiciary. Because the time has become appropriate for the existence of a specialized judiciary for the speedy settlement of these cases. Which sometimes takes long years, and this is an appropriate time in light of the development of the legal system in the country so that there are specialized courts in medical cases similar to the labor and commercial courts, and this transfer of the competencies of the bodies to the general court comes to enhance patient safety and care for rights, and to expand the application of medical malpractice insurance and regulate The work of government practitioners in the private sector.
This contributes, according to Al-Amoudi's lawyer, to the speedy completion of cases. Including medical errors, with unifying the reference for jurisdiction in cases to the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry works to develop the health sector and raise the efficiency of health services. In light of this, judges and their assistants have been trained and qualified based on judicial competence, scientific qualification and practical scientific experience appropriate for this transfer in order to achieve quality and accuracy in the judicial outputs related to these medical disputes and the terms of reference of the Sharia health bodies.
In practice, the steps begin with submitting a complaint to the health facility in which the error occurred, or the relevant health affairs to which the facility in which the violation or medical error occurred is affiliated, then a committee of specialized experts considers the complaint to give a medical opinion, and the amicable settlement is presented to the opposing parties, and the complaint is referred. electronically to the judiciary for remote viewing; This is when settlement is not possible, and then comes the last stage represented in issuing the judgment regarding the complaint.
Do establishments bear the mistakes of their employees?
Head of the Forum for Medicine and Law, Attorney Majed Qaroub, welcomed the transfer of jurisdiction over medical malpractice claims to the general judiciary for faster adjudication according to the three levels of litigation. He explained that putting forward and discussing the mechanism of compensation and the responsibility of the medical institution with the insurance companies is supposed to remain the subject of study and discussion, as the medical institution must bear the mistakes of its employees among doctors and health practitioners, especially in cases that cause disability to a member of the body, and that compensation be a remedy for medical, social and humanitarian harm. For the patient, his family and his profession, and for the presence of insurance companies to develop the medical industry and improve services to reduce errors and negligence in work standards, quality and efficiency in operation, employment and training, especially since the medical sector of institutions and insurance companies achieves high annual profits, and this is not what was found for it at the expense of the patient and the quality Services or error handling and compensation for them, in a way that helps in treatment, rehabilitation, and securing a normal life as realistically as possible, necessitating that the medical institution bear the full expenses of error treatment and psychological and social compensation. He concluded by calling for a review of the method and method of evaluating damages and injuries in this type of medical case, especially with the transfer of medical cases from the committees in the Ministry of Health to the courts.
Compensation according to the damage
Attorney Kholoud Majid Al-Ahmadi explained that (the indemnity) is defined as the money paid to the victim, his guardian, or his heir due to a felony against what is less than the soul of the members, which does not contain a full blood money, and she explained that the mechanism of compensation cases is due to the conviction and vision of the judicial circuit in the court that there is a right The aggrieved party in compensation, based on the availability of evidence and proofs that settle the dispute before the court and clarify to the judge the extent of the aggrieved party’s entitlement to the compensation he is claiming before the court and the value of the compensation.
For her part, lawyer Rana Abdullah Al-Ghamdi believes that compensation for damage is a right guaranteed to everyone before the justice of the judiciary, and this requires proof, for fear of malicious claims or extortion claims, and the burden of proof and evidence rests on the aggrieved plaintiff to prove his right to compensation, and the courts issue judgments for compensation that the court estimates If damage is proven.
Errors file.. death, paralysis and fake reports
The file of medical errors and transgressions reveals many cases between a request, an administrative, or a professional, and from the lawsuits archive, the case of 3 officials and a doctor, affiliated with a private medical facility in Jeddah, being referred to the Public Prosecution for investigation on charges of issuing forged medical reports and using false documents in the case of a citizen who was subjected to a medical error that caused He lost his job and put him in debts and financial obligations, and at that time directed the Ministry of Health to re-investigate the medical error, and a specialized committee initiated investigation procedures regarding the medical error and those who caused it, and a citizen paid the price for that by losing his job on the background of a fake medical report from the therapist, as he was dismissed For his job services from his employer because of a medical report from the therapist in that facility stating his disability and incapacitation.
Adnan Shabrawi (Jeddah) @Adnanshabrawi