Malpractice claims in radiology: First analysis of Italian data [Analisi delle denunce assicurative di responsabilità civile nella radiologia. Primi dati Italiani]

The purpose of this study is to provide information to Italian radiologists regarding claims and patient injuries in medical malpractice claims. The assurance claims of Italian radiologists over a two-year period (1994-95) were anonymously analyzed, based on pertinent data provided by the Insurance Company of the Italian Society of Medical Radiology. The incidence risk-rate of claims was 9.1 per thousand person/year. Alleged malpractice accounted for more than 85% of the claims. In nearly one-half of the cases (44.4%), the plaintiff's argument was based on a «failure to diagnose». The most common misdiagnosis was failure to diagnose fracture or dislocation. The second most common claim category (40.7%) were complications, most commonly occurring during interventional radiology and contrast media injection. The third claim category (14.8%) was patient's accidents occurring during the diagnostic procedure. The most frequent types of injuries experienced by patients were death (6 cases), loss of chance for survival and permanent disability. Claims were more frequent in public health services, and mostly related to emergency examinations and interventional procedures. Misdiagnoses almost exclusively involved public health radiologists. Private health care, on the other hand, had a higher rate of fatal injuries, mostly related to technical complications.