The Japanese health and welfare ministry is drawing up new rules to deal with medical malpractice in response to a rising number of accidents at hospitals. In the first plan of its type, the ministry will spell out procedures for reporting unexpected deaths or injuries among patients receiving treatment.
Depending on the degree to which medical staff might be considered responsible, hospitals will be obliged to follow one of three courses of action. If there is a clear causal link between treatment and death or injury, hospitals must file a report to police. If there is a suspicion of a link, they will still have to consult police verbally. If the possibility of a link can be disproved, then no action is necessary.
As a result, much of the authority for deciding whether malpractice took place will shift from hospitals to police. The measures will also put doctors and nurses under more pressure to justify their choices of treatment in the event of a fatality or injury.
About 220 medical institutions are expected to adopt these guidelines, which will be finalised later this summer. The new rules come amid a wave of public concern about the increasing frequency of hospital mishaps and how they are dealt with.
Among the latest high profile cases of deadly malpractice have been a Hokkaido surgeon who sliced through the jugular of a woman during routine throat surgery.
Full story in News Extra at bmj.com