A Study on the Current Status of Medical Lawsuits in Orthopedics in Korea.

Abstract

PURPOSE: Through the analysis of orthopedics lawsuit rulings, the purpose of this study is to understand the current trends of medical lawsuits in orthopedics in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An analysis of medical lawsuits in orthopedics was conducted. As the study method, a quantitative analysis was performed on 341 cases. RESULTS: The average period of lawsuits, from the occurrence of the medical accident to end of the ruling, took an average of 4.22 years. The most frequent procedure that was the main cause of the medical accidents was surgery, at 46.3%. When surgery is the main procedure that caused the medical accidents, the result of examining the types of surgeries showed that spine surgery had the highest percentage. For the outcome of the accident, the highest number of cases resulted in disability and for the final court outcome, 40.5% ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff (the patient) with acknowledgement of only the damage incurred due to medical error of the total sum claimed, and dismissal of the claim made by the plaintiff (patient) accounted for 34.3%: 26.1% of cases develop infection. For the amount of claim for damage, the average amount of claim was 181,998,036 won: in the judgement amount, the average amount of judgement was 58,897,161 won. CONCLUSION: The most frequent procedure in orthopedics was surgery and spine surgery comprised a large proportion of these surgeries. Future studies to determine root causes of medical accidents should be conducted to reduce medical lawsuits and to plan against the repeating of medical accidents.

목적: 국내 정형외과 관련 의료소송 판결문의 분석을 통하여 정형외과 의료소송의 현황과 원인이 된 과정을 파악하고자 함이다. 대상 및 방법: 소송시작이 2005년부터 2010년인 정형외과 의료소송 판결문 341건을 대상으로 하여 빈도분석을 실시하였다. 결과: 사건 발생 시점에서 소송 종결 시점까지의 평균 소요기간은 4.22년이었다. 의료소송의 원인이 된 과정은 수술이 46.3%였고, 수술의 종류는 척추 수술이 가장 많았다. 사고의 결과는 장애가 가장 많았고, 최종심 결과는 원고일부승이 40.5%, 원고패(기각)가 34.3%였다. 감염은 전체 중 26.1%에서 발생하였고, 손해배상 청구금액은 평균 181,998,036원이었으며 인용금액은 평균 58,897,161원이었다. 결론: 정형외과 의료소송으로 이어진 의료사고의 주요 원인 과정은 수술이 가장 많았고, 그 중에서도 척추 수술이 가장 많았다. 추후 의료사고의 근본 원인분석을 통해 의료사고를 줄이고 재발을 방지하기 위한 후속 연구가 이루어져야 할 것이다.