Research Information System
Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Bilimleri Dergisi, vol.25, no.3, pp.293-298, 2022 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Objective: Physicians have been strongly affected by the stress caused by malpractice lawsuits. This study aims to increase the aware ness of physical therapy and rehabilitation physicians about cases with al leged medical malpractice. Material and Methods: Allegations of medical malpractice against physical therapy and rehabilitation physicians were ex amined retrospectively from the report archives of the First Specialization Board of Council of Forensic Medicine between 01.01.2010 and 31.12.2015. Results: This study included 22 cases: 11 cases (50%) were male, 11 were (50%) female. The mean age was 48.86±22.9 (minimum: 16, maximum: 85), and 40.9% of the cases were 60 years or older. The event that was the subject of the complaint occurred most frequently in the state hospital (n=7, 31.8%) and the private hospital (n=6, 27.3%). One-fourth of the physical therapy and rehabilitation physicians (27.3%) intervened as consultant physicians. Twenty-five physicians (5 residents, 18 specialists, 1 assistant professor, and 1 professor) were charged with malpractice allegations. The most frequent diagnosis was “lumbar disc herniation” (n=5, 22.7%), fol lowed by paraplegia (n=3, 13.6%). While medical malpractice was not found in 21 cases, it was confirmed in only 1 case by the Board. Conclu sion: In this study, 95.5% of the physical therapy and rehabilitation physi cians were accused of unfair reasons. The new malpractice law needs to be regulated as soon as possible. Until the new law is passed, physicians should analyze the cases with claims of medical malpractice and develop strategies and approaches to prevent these claims.