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Accumulation of medical errors : Public institution/private physician, who is at fault?

Published

06 March 2024

Read time

3 minutes

Everything to know about liability in case of accumulation of public/private medical errors.

In this article, you will follow the case of a patient who suffered damages during her pregnancy. She wanted the hospital group to be held responsible for rectifying its mistakes, without seeking the liability of the private practitioner also responsible for the harm.

The patient files a claim with the administrative court to seek compensation

The rendered opinion is in the interest of the victims

A series of medical errors is a succession of technical or diagnostic mistakes that cause harm to a patient. This series can be shared between a private doctor and a public institution, in which case it becomes necessary to determine the level of responsibility of each. In principle, when the responsibility of a private doctor is sought, the victim must take action before the civil court. When the patient seeks the responsibility of a public institution, they can only act before the administrative court.
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The patient files a claim with the administrative court to seek compensation

Before ruling on the victim's claim for compensation, the administrative judge queried the Council of State on the following point:

In the case of a combination of faults, committed:
• one by a public entity,
• the other by a private individual whose assessment falls under the jurisdiction of the judicial judge,

The administrative judge, approached by the victim:

• Can he determine the share of responsibility to be borne by the public entity brought before him following such a sharing?
OR
• Should he reject the requested sharing of responsibility by the victim and condemn the public entity, within the limit of the amount requested, to fully repair the damage, with the burden on it to exercise a recourse action?

The Council of State has ruled on the matter.

From now on, the victim of medical malpractice may request the condemnation of the public health establishment to fully compensate for their bodily injury when the fault also committed by a liberal doctor contributed to the same harmful consequences. Opinion rendered on January 20, 2023 (opinion No. 468190) by the Council of State.
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The rendered opinion is in the interest of the victims.

The rendered opinion dismisses any sharing of responsibility between the co-authors, excluding any involvement of the private individual and condemning the public entity to fully compensate for the damage.

Why? Because the latter has the option to bring a recourse action against the private co-author.

Therefore, the victim of a medical error no longer needs to initiate two separate proceedings: one before the civil court and the other before the administrative court.

This opinion thus enables the victim to receive compensation more quickly.