ABSTRACT

Since urgent cases are important among the health problems, and have legal characteristics as well, phsyicians have more responsibility for urgent patients than nonurgent ones. In case of malpractice, Supreme Council of Health, Council of Forensic Medicine and Public Prosecutor assign experts to decide whether there is fault or not. In this paper; judgment reports, related to medical responsibility of physicians in departments of emergency medicine in Supreme Council of Health, in 2000-2004 were evaluated. It was seen that they decided on no fault for 57 cases but they considered that it had been malpractice for the 55.

Considering physician medical and legal responsibility, physicians in emergency departments should examine patients carefully; perform required laboratory tests and consultations quickly. In addition, severely ill patients should be monitored until patients' vital signs are stabilized; and if required, they should be transported to an advanced medical center immediately.