[Learning from the experiences of an arbitration unit for medical liability questions].

While other countries', e.g. the United States', experience with alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in medical malpractice has been disappointing, German physicians have instituted extrajudicial claims resolution as an alternative to civil litigation: Established by the Arztekammern (corporate bodies of professional self-governance) in the mid-1970s, the Schlichtungsstellen (SchlSt--claims resolution panels) offer patients and doctors, on a voluntary basis, proceedings directed toward achieving a settlement.

[Medical risk and iatrogenic injury--"accident reports" from the North German Schlichtungsstelle (expert panel for extrajudicial claims resolution)].

Schlichtungsstellen and Gutachterkommission--expert panels for extrajudicial malpractice claims resolution--are well positioned to provide data on iatrogenic injuries and negligence in medical care, based on the information collected from a great number of panel cases. Within the last 4 years, 2000 through 2003, the Norddeutsche Schlichtungsstelle concluded 10,513 Schlichtungsverfahren (panel proceedings), more than three quarters of them related to the surgical specialties; most of the claims addressed operations and postoperative therapy. In the nonsurgical specialities, the highest proportion of the proceedings had to do with procedures.

[Medical errors and iatrogenic injury--results of 173 Schlichtungsstellen proceedings in general practice].

The Schlichtungsstelle (expert panel for alternative dispute resolution) of Northern Germany receives and decides on large numbers of malpractice claims. We report on 173 panel decisions on claims involving general practitioners: Medical negligence was found in 40%, and patient-injuries due to negligence in 28% of these cases. Treatment-caused injuries of the patient were also found in several of the cases decided against the claimant.