The phenomenon of medical malpractice in Romania – ethical perspectives

Abstract

A whole series of problems, structural or functional, of the health system have accompanied the evolution of Romania in the last almost three decades that followed the fall of communism. Among the various crises that our health system has experienced (discontinuities in supplies of medicines and sanitary materials, closure of hospitals, lack of personnel and others debated in media), a whole series of data come to suggest the possibility of confronting, in the near future, with a form of crisis related to medical malpractice; the form that this crisis will take is itself an interesting subject for analysis. The sanitary systems that underwent such a crisis (the American one in the 70s and 80s) were forced to undergo a legislative reform regarding this phenomenon. Discussions on the economic impact of medical errors or negligence are all the more sensitive given the social values protected by these regulations: life and health. The analysis based on ethical considerations can be a fundamental starting point.