http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2256-2087(12)40016-5

Letters to the Editor

Liliana M. Támara*

Universidad del Rosario. Specialist in Bioethics, Universidad El Bosque, specialist in Health Care Auditing, Universidad Santo Tomás, Candidate to a Master Degree in Social Protection, Universidad Santo Tomás, medical examiner of the Group of Forensic Medicine, Bogotá Office, GC-RB, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses de Colombia 1NMLCF. Bogotá, Colombia

'Corresponding author at: Calle 13 n.° 7-46, Bogotá, Colombia. E-mail: ltamara@medicinalegal.gov.co (L.M. Támara).

Physicians have been repeatedly warned against the rising number of claims for professional liability; however, the number of cases still pending or that are subject to a legal procedure has not been published systematically in our country. The legal and ethical systems do not have any comprehensive information systems to publish statistics on the scope of the claims, processes and verdicts. This creates difficulties in the approach of effective mechanisms to mitigate the impact of these claims against the practice of medicine, through dissemination, training and continued education. Dr. Escobar in his paper "The medical responsibility of the psychiatrist"¹ presents strong arguments to be considered for the practice of the profession and the potential impact of any professional liability claims. The group of psychiatry and psychology only received two requests for consideration of cases of presumptive professional liability of psychiatry specialists in 2011. The chief director of the group in the Bogotá Office said that there are less than two cases submitted for analysis per year in this specialty. The article published last October "Statistical Analysis of the Expert Reports on Presumptive Professional Liability analyzed by the group of the Bogotá Regional Clinic of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine of Colombia. 2006-2010"² excluded from the sample the cases analyzed by the psychiatric group. There is a need for the scientific medical community to continue to pursue investigative and political work to improve the information about medical-legal matters pertaining to our daily medical practice and their impact on the health of the population.

None declared.

Funding sources: Research project 708 Scientific Research and Technological Development Division, National Insitute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.

1. Escobar,F. La responsabilidad médica del psiquiátra. Rev Colomb Anestesiol. 2012;40:40:17-20.

2. Támara LM, Jaramillo SH, Muñoz LE. Informes periciales por presunta responsabilidad médica en Bogotá. Rev Colomb Anestesiol. 2011;39:489-505.