Medical lawsuits top R25m

Cape health department forks out R25.8m in medico-legal suits in one year

THE WESTERN Cape Department of Health has in the past year paid over R25 million in medico-legal claims as scores of unhappy patients are increasingly suing doctors for negligence. Mark van der Heever, spokesman for the department confirmed that between April and December the department paid in excess of R15m in litigation settlements, and R25.8m had since been paid out to claimants.

Meanwhile a Cape Town doctor, Mark Sonderup, has cautioned that rising litigation against the country’s doctors could bankrupt the country’s health sector while it drove many specialists out of their disciplines.

Sonderup, who is also the deputy chairman of South African Medical Association (Sama), described the suing of doctors and health departments as a “free for all”, and called for Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi to intervene.

He said one of the options to consider was to cap how much individuals could sue doctors for to avoid “bankrupting doctors and the health system”.

“We must be clear… nobody says where doctors had been negligent they shouldn’t be sued, but what’s happening at the moment is that it’s a free for all,” he said.

Sonderup said the rise of the litigation claims against medical professionals not only threatened the role of specialists, but also caused a financial burden on the public. Litigation was often sought by patients when they felt unhappy about a doctor’s treatment and had no other avenues of complaint.

“The unfortunate thing about this is that it is medical specialists who seem targeted by litigators. I have gynaecologist friends who are prepared to stop practising obstetrics simply because it’s too risky.

“Some of these specialists, who are needed so much by the country pay in excess of R600 000 a year just in indemnity fees.

“With the greatest respect, that’s a lot of money and the sad thing is that it is patients or the taxpayer who have to foot this bill at the end of the day,” he said.

Experts believed that defensive medicine, where doctors over-investigated ailments or chose “safer” practices such as c-sections instead of normal delivery, drove up health-care costs. “They will start giving everyone with a headache an MRI scan because they are scared of missing a brain tumour,” Sonderup said.

While medico-legal claims varied each year, the department of health has projected contingent liabilities in excess of R220m for the next three to five years as a precaution on an absolute worst outcome based scenario.

WE MUST BE CLEAR... NOBODY SAYS WHERE DOCTORS HAD BEEN NEGLIGENT THEY SHOULDN’T BE SUED, BUT WHAT’S HAPPENING IS THAT IT’S A FREE-FOR-ALL