ISSN: 1304-5040
Dil: Türkçe, ingilizce
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLES |
Utilization Of Autopsy Audit Form In Medical Malpractice Cases
Dr. Işıl PAKİŞ,a Dr. Nesime YAYCI,b Dr. Mustafa KARAPİRLİb
aAdalet Bakanlığı Adli Tıp Kurumu,
bAdli Tıp ABD, Marmara Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, İSTANBUL
Objective: Aim of the study is to investigate the quality of autopsy by using an audit form in autopsy cases referred to the Council of Forensic Medicine with the claim of malpractice, as well as to assess the impact of the qualification of the autopsy performing physician on the quality of the autopsy and the role of autopsy quality in malpractice decisions.
Material and Methods: Review of all files referred to the 1st and 3rd Boards of the Council of Forensic Medicine between the years 2001-2005 revealed 525 malpractice cases resulting in death. Autopsy was performed in 375 cases, which were included into the study. Autopsy reports were evaluated by means of an autopsy audit form recommended by Victoria Forensic Medicine Institute in order to determine the autopsy standard. In addition age and gender of the cases, cities where the autopsy was performed, clinical diagnosis, autopsy diagnosis, major discrepancies between clinical and autopsy diagnosis, 1st and 3rd Board’s decisions, qualification of the expert performing the autopsy, as well as the quality of the autopsy according to the autopsy audit form were assessed.
Results: 221 of the cases were male (59%), 150 were female (40%), and no gender was defined in 4 cases (1%). The autopsy was performed by a forensic medicine expert in 90% of the cases, and by physicians with no expertise in forensic medicine in 10% of the cases. According to the autopsy audit form, the autopsy standard was found to be successful (good) in 57% of the cases, and unsuccessful in 3.7% of the cases. Quality of the autopsy was found statistically significantly high in autopsies performed by a forensic medicine expert.
Conclusion: In conclusion, this study indicated the need for a forensic medicine expert to perform the autopsy. The required steps should be taken as soon as possible.Keywords: Autopsy, malpractice, quality control, forensic medicineTurkiye Klinikleri J Foren Med 2007, 4:113-120
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