Council receives 92 malpractice cases

JAKARTA: Of the 92 reports of medical malpractice it has received in Jakarta between 1997 and 2003, only 64 could be investigated further and only 24 were proven in court, the Medical Ethics Council says.

Council chairman Broto Wasisto said 28 of the reports did not meet investigation requirements because they were not compiled in accordance with standard procedures, "be it (because of) incomplete documents or other things that made it difficult for us to probe the cases."

Broto said only the council's office in Jakarta could compile reports on complaints about alleged malpractice as offices in other provinces were not equipped with adequate information systems.

Malpractice cases mostly took place because of negligence, carelessness and the incompetence of doctors, although in some cases doctors had deliberately violated standard operating procedures, he said. -- Antara