Table 1. Records of medical malpractice litigation, China, 2010–2015.
| Category | No. of records with relevant data (%) |
|---|---|
| Legal category (n = 13 620) | |
| Civil judgement | 8893 (65.3) |
| Civil ruling | 4727 (34.7) |
| Region (n = 13 587)a | |
| Central | 4365 (32.1) |
| Eastern | 6283 (46.2) |
| Western | 2939 (21.6) |
| Year litigation ended (n = 13 453) | |
| 2010 | 75 (0.6) |
| 2011 | 97 (0.7) |
| 2012 | 213 (1.6) |
| 2013 | 1359 (10.1) |
| 2014 | 6947 (51.6) |
| 2015 | 4762b (35.4) |
| Primary claim (n = 5408) | |
| Allergic reactions | 115 (2.1) |
| Alteration or forgery of medical records | 975 (18.0) |
| Delay in treatment | 1145 (21.2) |
| Improper treatment | 306 (5.7) |
| Lack of consent or notifications | 1356 (25.1) |
| Lack of prevention | 41 (0.8) |
| Lack of professional qualifications | 59 (1.1) |
| Misdiagnosis | 1172 (21.7) |
| Other adverse reactions | 239 (4.4) |
| Medical specialization (n = 8945) | |
| Dermatology and venereology | 136 (1.5) |
| Emergency | 124 (1.4) |
| General surgery | 1350 (15.1) |
| Infectious diseases | 110 (1.2) |
| Internal medicine | 3500 (39.1) |
| Obstetrics and gynaecology | 1251 (14.0) |
| Oncology | 296 (3.3) |
| Ophthalmology and otolaryngology | 411 (4.6) |
| Orthopaedics | 1283 (14.3) |
| Paediatrics | 160 (1.8) |
| Plastic surgery | 32 (0.4) |
| Psychiatric | 138 (1.5) |
| Reproductive health | 139 (1.6) |
| Traditional Chinese medicine | 15 (0.2) |
| Severity (n = 6105) | |
| Death | 4111 (67.3) |
| Medium injury | 493 (8.1) |
| Minor injury | 1358 (22.2) |
| Severe injury | 143 (2.3) |
| Outcome of litigation (n = 11 014) | |
| Case withdrawn | 2121 (19.3) |
| Compensation | 7482 (67.9) |
| No compensation | 1411 (12.8) |
a For our analyses, central China was represented by the provinces of Anhui, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Jilin and Shanxi, eastern China by the provinces of Beijing, Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Hebei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanghai, Tianjin and Zhejiang, and western China by the provinces of Chongqing, Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan and the Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet and Xinjiang autonomous regions. No corresponding data were available for Chinese Taipei or the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or Macau Special Administrative Region.
b Number recorded by 5 November.
Note: Inconsistencies arise in some values due to rounding.