Panorama of Emergency Medicine
PoEM is an international peer-reviewed (double-blind) independent open access journal dedicated to advancing knowledge and practice in emergency medicine.
ISSN : 3006-0966
PoEM is an international peer-reviewed (double-blind) independent open access journal dedicated to advancing knowledge and practice in emergency medicine.
ISSN : 3006-0966
Background
The concept of unifying medical error legislation offers multiple potential benefits to the League of Arab States (LAS).
Methods
This descriptive study examined LAS medical error legislation to highlight the current state of medical error legislation principles and proposes an approach that member states of the LAS could leverage to unify their regulations governing medical error.
Result
Among LAS countries, only 15 out of 22 (68%) had a specific medical liability law and only 12 of them (54%) defined medical error. The Civil and Penal Code was applied in 4 countries (18%) while information could not be found for 3 countries (13.6%).
Conclusion
The study recommends that LAS countries undertake medical error legislation reform to unify the definition, restrict criminal liability for actions prohibited by law, and limit medical error liability to corrective disciplinary and civil penalties (award), which will reflect positively in the healthcare system and practice of medicine.