Background: This study was designed to investigate the medical malpractice claims referred to the Board of Appeal of Disciplinary Court in Mashhad Medical Council (MMC).
Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, cases referred to the Board of Appeal in the years 2008 to 2013 were reviewed and extracted data were entered into a checklist.
Results: During this six-year period, 1943 malpractice claims were initially filed in the Disciplinary Court of MMC. Subsequent to issuing the initial verdict by the Council of Magistrates, after objection of the plaintiff or defendant, or both; 628 cases were referred to the Board of Appeal. The majority of claims were filed against gynecologists (16.1%), followed by orthopedists (13.1%) and general practitioners (12.3%). Most of the verdicts issued by the Council of Magistrates were innocence (46.3%), article “g” (23.5%), and article “b” (11.3%). Appellant in 52.6% of cases were the plaintiff, 39.3% were the defendant and in 8% were both the plaintiff and the defendant. In most cases (83.4%) the initial verdict was confirmed, while in 16.6% cases, the initial verdict was challenged. As a result, after the objection, the number of innocence (non-faulty) verdicts increased by 11.7%. The average time from the moment of submission of the claim till the initial verdict by Council of Magistrates was 147±103 days and the average time from the moment of objection to the initial verdict till the decision of the Board of Appeal was 248±113 days.
Conclusion: In this study, it was found that about one-third of the verdicts issued by the Council of Magistrates were objected and referred to the Board of Appeal, but only in about one-sixth of objected cases or one-eighteenth of the total cases, the initial verdict was challenged. Medical community members should respect medical ethics in dealing with patients to achieve their satisfaction and trust; and they should strictly comply with treatment and legal protocols to prevent any legal and penal consequences in case of disease complications and failures in medical procedures.