[No spectacular rise in claims for medical damages in The Netherlands: 1993-'01 compared to 1980-'90].

OBJECTIVE: To acquire insight into the number and nature of claims for damages that were filed in the period 1993/'01 in hospitals insured by MediRisk and to compare this with the period 1980/'90.

DESIGN: Descriptive.

METHOD: Data were collected from the registration system for insurance claims maintained by MediRisk, an insurer of medical liability risks. The data were processed up to and including 31 October 2002. There were 4058 claims in 3316 closed and 742 open dossiers. The results were compared with those from a comparable investigation into the period 1980/'90 (3970 claims; 1550 dossiers investigated). The number of invasive medical interventions in the period 1990-2001 was obtained from Prismant in Utrecht. Study of the dossiers yielded information about the use of legal procedures.

RESULTS: Compared to 1980/'90 there was a 34% increase in the number of claims for damages following medical interventions during the period 1993/'01. This increase was smaller than the growth in the number of high-risk interventions (47%). The percentage of rejected claims for damages was 6o in the period 1980/'90 and 68 in 1993/'01. In both periods, most of the claims pertained to surgical specialisms, in particular general surgery. In 370 of the 3316 closed dossiers (11%) a legal procedure was mentioned: complaints committee (5%; in 1980/'90 hospitals were not required to have a complaints committee), civil court (3%; this was 4% in 1980/'90) and the Medical Disciplinary Board (3%; this was 6% in 1980/'90).

CONCLUSION: The increase in the number of claims for damages filed against hospitals insured with MediRisk was limited compared to the number of medical interventions carried out. The number of legal procedures arising from these claims did rise in the absolute sense, but fell in relation to the number of claims for damages.