Berlin.
Mistakes happen, even in medicine – bad when the consequences are severe. The number of unreported cases is high. A reporting system could help.
Early 20s and barely productive. The study is on hold. The past year – a physical and emotional agony. Sophie Nowak (name changed) is no longer resilient after a so-called lumbar puncture, cerebrospinal fluid leaks further down the spine, she regularly has severe position-related headaches, nausea, balance and concentration disorders. The symptoms only improve when lying down – and sometimes only slightly.
Eight-year-old Maxim (name changed) has care level 4, has to go to occupational and speech therapy regularly and attends a special needs school. The reason: lack of oxygen during the birth. His biological mother died ten days after she gave birth to him in a hospital in Essen – according to the expert’s report as a result of the birth process.
Kim Bilobrk met and fell in love with Maxim’s father a little later. She stands up for him and his son and fights with her father “for justice”, as she says. She gets support from the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), with which the boy is insured – and is therefore by no means an isolated case.
Medical errors: Thousands turn to health insurance
Just under 6,000 insured last year because of the suspicion of a medical malpractice contacted the TC. These figures are exclusively available to our editors. According to the health insurance company, the number of cases has remained at a high level since the corona pandemic. “At the same time, we can only substantiate every third treatment error reported to us in the course of the review,” admits TK medical law expert Christian Soltau.
If you compare the numbers with the 88 million outpatient and 1.8 million inpatient treatments of TK-insured persons in 2021, which according to spokesman Michael Ihly are likely to be similar in 2022, this does not seem like much at first – according to experts, a fallacy.
High number of unreported cases of treatment errors suspected
It should be understood that these figures are only an indicator of the supply situation can be, says Soltau. “According to studies, the number of unreported cases is considerable.” Stefan Gronemeyer, Chairman of the Medical Service (MD) Bund, emphasizes this in an interview with our editors. “It is assumed that only about three percent of the treatment errors that occur are recorded in any statistics.” And behind every case there were sometimes bad fates. There is no real transparency.
According to the Medical Service, around 13,000 to 15,000 cases are constantly submitted for assessment each year. Gronemeyer: “In around every fourth case, the suspicion of a treatment error is confirmed.” In every fifth case, it can be confirmed that the error is the demonstrable cause of damage that has occurred. “We’re talking about causality.” The latter is important for those affected. Because only if this proof can be provided, they can possibly go to court claims for damages assert.
Birth defects: Victims fight for justice for more than ten years on average
This is where Bilobrk, her partner and his son are right now. After a criminal success, they continue to try to get justice under civil law – the process has been dragging on for almost eight years now. The oldest case that TK is currently handling dates back to 2008, according to medical law expert Soltau. No isolated cases. At birth defects According to Soltau, victims have to fight for their rights for more than ten years on average.
“The fact that procedures often take so long is because those affected have to prove that the mistake that was made actually caused the damage,” explains Gronemeyer. He therefore advises not only to seek direct contact with the doctor treating you, but also to prepare a memory log as soon as you suspect a treatment error.
Mistakes made by the doctor: who can turn to those affected
In the next step, those affected can ask their health insurance company and its specialist departments for support or contact the arbitration boards of the medical associations or a medical lawyer – including treatment protocol and a release from confidentiality. “The health insurance not only advised us, but also covered the external expert costs,” says Kim Bilobrk. “I don’t know how we would have managed it otherwise.” The health insurance companies also have an interest in medical errors being recognized. Because these often result in high follow-up costs due to visits to the doctor, therapies and medication.
Nowak has decided against legal action. The postpuncture syndrome, from which she suffers among other things, is a well-known side effect of a puncture – it is extremely rare for this to last for more than a year. To make matters worse, there was an unrecognized inflammation after the procedure. Nowak knows today that it is extremely difficult to prove that the doctors here had failed in treatment. What’s more, the young woman would like to work in the medical field one day and fears that she “will mess things up by filing a lawsuit with the clinics”.
As she puts it, Nowak already has to put up with “stupid sayings” from the doctors: she simply mustn’t let herself down, she must finally do more sport – something that the competitive athlete only smiles tiredly at. She has no strength for a process. “I just want my life back.” The young woman is therefore now relying on the help of a doctor from the Berlin Charité, who is in a support group was recommended.
Medical errors: This is where suspected cases are most common
The cases of Nowak and Maxim and his mother relate to specialist groups in which treatment errors are most frequently reported or confirmed. A picture that coincides with the new TK evaluation: Most of the suspected cases reported here relate to just under a third of one surgical treatment. According to TK, dentistry accounts for around 17 percent of the reported suspected cases. In general medicine and in obstetrics and gynaecology, it is 10 percent each. This is followed by nursing errors, orthopedics and ophthalmology in the single-digit percentage range.
A similar picture emerged in the medical service. However, an accumulation of allegations in a subject says nothing about the actual error rate or security, emphasizes Gronemeyer. Errors in these areas are often easier to spot.
Reporting system against treatment errors required
The effects of treatment errors on the affected patients are very different: In two out of three cases of damage, the last survey by the Federal Medical Service involved only temporary damage. In 6.8 percent of the cases, however, serious injuries occurred permanent damage – such as the need for care, as with Maxim -, in 3.8 percent of the cases, the treatment error even led to death – as with Maxim’s mother.
To ensure that personal tragedies occur much less frequently in the future, Gronemeyer calls for greater efforts to be made to better prevent mistakes in the future – above all by doing so reporting systems for particularly serious loss events. Gronemeyer: “Here we could do more for patient safety in Germany than we are currently doing.”
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