MEDICAL
ACCIDENTS
Medical accidents
medical liability
The Kouchner Law of March 4, 2002 makes it possible to seek the responsibility of health actors, doctors, surgeons, clinics, hospitals, before the competent courts which are:
The Judicial Court for private health actors: doctors, surgeons, nurses, clinics
The Administrative Court for public health actors: hospitals, C.H.U, etc. …
The main difficulty lies in the need for the victim of a medical error or malpractice to provide proof of the fault or error committed by the doctor, the surgeon, etc.
The insurers of health actors are aware of the difficulty for the victim to provide proof of this fault.
They are therefore reluctant to amicably recognize the fault of their insured.
Recourse to legal proceedings is almost always the rule. Only a specialist lawyer can initiate this type of procedure with a reasonable chance of success.
Our firm is used to this type of procedure and has already had many successes.
The Non-faulty Medical Accident
A non-faulty medical accident, also known as a therapeutic hazard in everyday language, can be compensated under national solidarity by an organization called “ONIAM” (National Office for the Compensation of Medical Accidents).
The institution to be seized in this type of circumstance (but it is also possible in the event of fault) is the CCI (Conciliation and Compensation Commission) with territorial jurisdiction; there are several “CCI” which cover the French territory.
A request can be addressed to the CCI which, after having verified the conditions of its referral, appoints a medical expert or an expert panel.
The advantages of the expertises thus implemented are on the one hand their freeness, and on the other hand their technical qualities and their credibility like a judicial expertise.
The ICC does not issue a court decision but a simple opinion based on the report delivered by the expert(s).
This opinion, which is based on the medical expert report, may invite ONIAM to compensate the damage, or any other party if the conditions are met.
It is important to know that the conditions for compensation of ONIAM in this context refer to a more unfavorable scale of compensation for the victims than the sums allocated before the Courts and the Courts of Appeal.
The only real advantage could be the speed of this compensation.
Indeed, the delays to obtain judgments from the Judicial Courts and Administrative Courts are sometimes long.
But on the basis of a report issued at the end of the ICC “procedure”, it is however possible, in certain cases, to take legal action.
Nosocomial infections
Nosocomial infections are acquired in a health facility or from a health professional by patients awaiting operations or other care.
The healthcare establishment is responsible for these infections and must compensate the patients.
All the health establishments or the health professional are insured and it is therefore the insurers who will bear the cost of compensation for damages.
In the event of death or disability greater than 25% determined by the appointed medical expert, compensation will be made under National Solidarity by ONIAM.
This body may take action against the health establishment in the event of a serious fault.
Our specialized firm has a perfect knowledge of the compensable damage items to obtain optimal compensation for the client’s damage.