Medical malpractice - the Canadian experience

Article Abstract:

The legal system in Canada that handles medical malpractice claims is explained and evaluated, with particular attention to the factors responsible for the increasing use of that system. In the two decades since 1971, the number of malpractice claims filed increased by a factor of almost seven, with one third resulting in success (compared with between 43 and 50 percent in the US). The average payment on a successful claim in 1989 was $150,640 (Canadian dollars): the size of the award increased at a rate of 9.7 percent each year starting in 1971. Lawyers' fees and malpractice insurance rates rose, a trend similar to that in the US and United Kingdom. In Canada, punitive damages awards are rarely made, and a cap of $200,000 is placed on awards for pain and suffering. Such awards are much more common in the US. The incentives to bring malpractice suits are reduced in Canada, where a public health insurance plan covers all necessary medical and hospital expenses, and where social security benefits are quite comprehensive. In Canada, the loser must compensate the winner for many costs associated with litigation, discouraging people from starting suits where victory is doubtful. The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) insures most Canadian physicians, to whom it offers universal, comprehensive, and unlimited coverage. The CMPA is reputed to defend cases it believes in, and to fight against those it does not believe in, regardless of the size of the claim. In spite of these differences, claims awarded in Canada are not significantly smaller than those awarded in the US. The effects of the changes in Canadian malpractice litigation on physicians have been substantial, and include an increase in diagnostic and testing services, documentation of patient care, and reductions in the scope of practice. Canadian physicians are only one fifth as likely to be sued as American physicians; still, though, the increases in litigation in recent years are partly due to the technological changes medicine has undergone in recent years. Patients want to bear less risk, in an era where physicians are more vulnerable because of better technology. In general, though, results in the US indicate no reduction in the incidence of malpractice in regions of the country where litigation is more extensive. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Canada, Laws, regulations and rules, Physicians, Statistics, Malpractice, Medical malpractice, Medical malpractice insurance

---

Disparities in the use of total joint arthroplasty

Article Abstract:

The best way to eliminate racial disparities in the use of joint replacement surgery is to raise community awareness that this procedure exists. Numerous studies have shown that women and minorities are less likely to receive health care services than white men. This was confirmed by a Canadian study published in 2000, which showed that women had three times the need for joint replacement surgery than men but were less likely to receive it. People are more likely to demand a treatment if they know other people who have benefited from it.

Editorial, Artificial joints, Joint prostheses

---

Differences between men and women in the rate of use of hip and knee arthroplasty

Article Abstract:

Many Canadians who might benefit from joint replacement therapy are not receiving it, and this is especially true of women. In a study of 1,751 women and 660 men with severe disabling arthritis, many men and women did not receive joint replacement therapy even though they were willing to have the surgery. Women were less likely to receive joint replacement therapy than men even though they were more likely to have arthritis and usually had worse symptoms and greater disability.

Artificial hip joints, Hip prostheses

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Pediatricians' experience with and attitudes toward firearms: results of a national survey. Prevalence of Symptoms of Gastroesophageal Reflux During Childhood
• Abstracts: An 82-year-old man with pulmonary densities and a mass in the left upper abdominal quadrant. A 64-year-old man with Cushing's syndrome and a pancreatic mass
• Abstracts: Term neonatal asphyxial seizures and peripartum deaths lack of correlation with a rising cesarean delivery rate
• Abstracts: Churg-Strauss vasculitis and ascaris infection. Isolated nail fold vasculitis in rheumatoid arthritis. Systemic vasculitis: epidemiology, classification and environmental factors
• Abstracts: Enhancing district nurses' practice. Conflicts in supervision. Education and the novice clinical nurse specialist

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.