Malpractice in oncology.

Abstract

In oncology, as in all other medical disciplines, medical malpractice is assumed when the physician has not taken sufficient care in his treatment, and when he has not met the required standards of medical care. The physician is liable for damages when distinct harm has arisen from this. In oncology, accusations of malpractice arise especially when suspicion of a malignancy is not based on unequivocal substantive diagnostic criteria (for example, the appropriate appraisal of routine x-rays or screening scans), or in terms of organizational mistakes. Stringent safeguards in oncological diagnostics and therapy are usually based on approved and generally recognized guidelines. From the time that the malignancy is suspected, there is therefore little concrete danger that malpractice will be attested provided these guidelines are complied with. The tolerance accorded by experts in respect of intraoperative complications in oncological operations appears to be great amongst medical expert witnesses. If a malpractice is attested, the distinct damage resulting from this can only be appraised approximately, e.g. by comparing the statistical probability of survival in various tumor stages.