<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Background: It is stipulated in the Danish Health Act that any death which could be caused by a mistake, neglect or accident in relation to treatment or prophylaxis should be reported to the police. It is then within the power of the police to request a medicolegal autopsy. Aim: To profile the possible iatrogenic deaths in relation to different characteristics.Methods: All cases from 1992 to 2015 registered as doctor’s malpractice were selected. Cases from 2016 were selected based on the autopsy introduction. Included cases were analyzed focusing on different characteristics: type of iatrogenic event, responsible medical professional, place of death, cause of death.Results: A total of 275, i.e. 2.5% possible iatrogenic deaths out of a total of 11,143 autopsies were included. The most frequent type of iatrogenic event was negligence (42.2%). Most often a hospital doctor was the responsible party including surgeons (40%) and physicians (13.5%). The three most common causes of death were cardiovascular disease (22.2%), infection/inflammation (17.8%) and hemorrhage (16%).Conclusion: The results from this study can contribute to the knowledge of what to be aware of when dealing with the death of a person who has been in contact with the health care system.</abstract>

Background: It is stipulated in the Danish Health Act that any death which could be caused by a mistake, neglect or accident in relation to treatment or prophylaxis should be reported to the police. It is then within the power of the police to request a medicolegal autopsy. Aim: To profile the possible iatrogenic deaths in relation to different characteristics.Methods: All cases from 1992 to 2015 registered as doctor’s malpractice were selected. Cases from 2016 were selected based on the autopsy introduction. Included cases were analyzed focusing on different characteristics: type of iatrogenic event, responsible medical professional, place of death, cause of death.Results: A total of 275, i.e. 2.5% possible iatrogenic deaths out of a total of 11,143 autopsies were included. The most frequent type of iatrogenic event was negligence (42.2%). Most often a hospital doctor was the responsible party including surgeons (40%) and physicians (13.5%). The three most common causes of death were cardiovascular disease (22.2%), infection/inflammation (17.8%) and hemorrhage (16%).Conclusion: The results from this study can contribute to the knowledge of what to be aware of when dealing with the death of a person who has been in contact with the health care system.

Iatrogenic deaths: A 25-year retrospective study of medicolegal autopsies

Scandinavian Journal of Forensic Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Iatrogenic deaths: A 25-year retrospective study of medicolegal autopsies"}

Background: It is stipulated in the Danish Health Act that any death which could be caused by a mistake, neglect or accident in relation to treatment or...

Iatrogenic deaths: A 25-year retrospective study of medicolegal autopsies

Published Online: Jul 24, 2020

Page range: 14 - 19

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjfs-2019-0004

Keywords
Malpractice, medical malpractice, forensic science, autopsy, cause of death, forensic medicine, death, forensic pathology, medical error and patient safety

© 2019 Pernille Østergaard Petersen et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Iatrogenic deaths: A 25-year retrospective study of medicolegal autopsies

Published Online: Jul 24, 2020

Page range: 14 - 19

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjfs-2019-0004

KeywordsMalpractice, medical malpractice, forensic science, autopsy, cause of death, forensic medicine, death, forensic pathology, medical error and patient safety

© 2019 Pernille Østergaard Petersen et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Malpractice, medical malpractice, forensic science, autopsy, cause of death, forensic medicine, death, forensic pathology, medical error and patient safety