Definition: what is a medical error?
In medical jargon, they are called healthcare-associated serious adverse events (SAREs). They are there consequence of the use of a medical product, examination or treatment. In some cases, they come under a therapeutic hazard (allergic reaction to a drug for example). Sometimes they follow an error in medical procedures or in the administration of a drug. 160,000 to 375,000 serious adverse events occur each year during a hospital stay in a medical or surgical department. (Source 1).
More than half of medical errors, underreported, caused a death in 2021
In its 2021 annual report, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) recorded only 1,081 SAEs in 2020, of which 52% resulted in patient death et 56% were preventable. “A under-reporting of SAEIs persists despite regulatory obligation,” she wrote. This does not surprise Claude Rambaud, president of the association Le Lien, which helps victims of medical accidents and nosocomial infections. ” Reports are not systematic because recognizing a fault is violent for a health professional. As for the patients, very often they do not dare to request their medical file from the health establishment in which they are treated. So, making a report following a medical error or claiming a compensation…
Insufficient improvements
Of the tools have been put in place in health facilities to avoid medical errors, and therefore improve the safety of care. Thus, the “safety of care in the operating room” checklist has been mandatory since 2010. There are eleven points of vigilance to be checked with the participation of the person undergoing surgery. “It’s not just about ticking boxes in your corner,” says Dr. François Jaulin, anesthetist-resuscitator. You have to be trained to use it well. However, this is not always the case. »
Accepting his fault, difficult for a doctor
“Doctors are selected on individual excellence,” notes François Jaulin. Hence their difficulty in admitting that they have failed. Health professionals such as nurses or nursing assistants have a culture of teamwork which makes them more sensitive to medical errors. However, the HAS stresses that the size of the teamwork and communication between professionals is paramount to avoid them. “Fortunately, the culture of the younger generations is moving in the right direction,” rejoices François Jaulin.
Should the law be changed in France?
Selon HAS, reporting medical malpractice “allows systems to progress and become safer and learners”. Unlike a “persistent and punitive risk system” in which the error is hidden because the medical professional is afraid to reveal it. Le Lien therefore pleads for “a recognition of medical error disconnected from the notion of fault, specifies Claude Rambaud. She might be automatically compensated by the State, as for the therapeutic hazard”. Édouard Bourgin, lawyer at the bar of Grenoble and specialist in compensation and compensation for bodily injury, sees in it the “means of avoiding legal procedures which can last ten years in certain cases and in which the insurance companies play a sordid game with regard to the litigants, mixing systematic disputes and permanent minimization of harm ».
Testimony of Jean-René, son of victim. “Compensation will not give me my father back.”
“My father died at the age of 75 from cardiac arrest at the end of a coronary angiogram. While I did not see him alive again, the doctor was on the verge of correction. The director of the establishment of health refused to give me his medical file. Accompanied by an association, I initiated proceedings with the Regional Commission for Conciliation and Compensation. The expert reports concluded that the method of operating on my father, given his age and her diabetes, was unsuitable and that there was a medical error. I don’t blame the medical profession because everyone can be wrong. But it’s very disappointing. Did the establishment want me to hide what happened? I don’t know, but finding out this way can make you suspicious. Compensation won’t give me back my father. And this procedure stretches the time of mourning.”
Recourse, filing a complaint, compensation… What to do in the event of a medical error? Which address ?
To make a report following a medical error: signalement.social-sante.gouv.fr
To help you in your appeal process: Health info rights, 01 53 62 40 30, the helpline France Health Assos. Always start by asking for your medical file or that of the relative concerned in order to determine and prove that it is indeed a case of medical error.
To be compensated in the event of a medical error, three possibilities: a amicable appeal with the doctor or the establishment, referral to a Commission for Conciliation and Compensation for Medical Accidents (CCI) or the referral to a court of common law. L’ONIAM (National office for compensation of medical accidents) organizes with the CCIs the amicable compensation of victims of medical accidents at fault and not at fault without going through the courts.