Abstract
A medical accident due to negligence is called a “medical malpractice”. In a medical dispute, the patient goes to court and this is a “medical lawsuit”. Although it is unknown exactly how many medical accidents or disputes have occurred in Japan, we suppose that about 12, 000 cases occur annually. In a medical accident, there is a legal inquiry as to whether or not it is a civil act, and/or a criminal act, and/or whether administrative responsibility is involved. A total of 1, 004 cases of civil acts were filed in 2004. Four hundred and five judgments were passed, and the patients won in 39.5% of the cases. On the other hand, 463 cases were concluded as out-of-court settlements. Since 1999, there have been about 70 criminal judgments for doctors, nurses and co-medical staff because of medical accidents. There is no actual prison sentence for cases found guilty of manslaughter through professional negligence alone, and the charges were fines or imprisonment without labor (with suspension of execution), A doctor sentenced to a fine or imprisonment without labor is also subjected to administrative penalty as an order to suspend professional operations. Nine civil judgments and a criminal judgment concerned with ICU case were found. The purpose of medical risk management is to investigate the cause, build a prevention system, and reduce accidents.
