Abstract
Among criminal medical suits that appeared in publications after World War II, 6 precedents of misidentification of the patient or the operation site were reviewed. In all 6 cases, the defendent was found guilty for bodily injury due to professional negligence. In 4 cases, members of the medical staff other than physicians made the error, followed by mistaken medical actions by physicians. The attending physicians, even when they were residents, were judged to bear the greatest responsibility for confirming the operation site before surgery. Modern medical treatment is performed as team care, and it is important to prepare a manual for identifying the patient and the operation site on the assumption that several members of the medical staff may make mistakes. As few members of the staff as possible should perform the monitoring so that other members are exempt from liability.
