Misdiagnosis, incorrectly dosed prescriptions, it may happen that you are treated poorly. Can you turn against a caregiver, a hospital or your attending physician?

How to prove it?

If you suspect a misdiagnosis, you should first discuss it with your doctor. And, if in doubt, do not hesitate to seek a second or even a third opinion.

Where do I turn?

In the event of prejudice, the opinion of the medical conciliator of the hospital must be sought. If he does not follow your opinion, it is possible to contact the departmental commission which will investigate your file and possibly award compensation for damage.

What compensation does the law provide?

The law does not provide for fixed compensation. It can range from the symbolic euro to much larger sums, proportional to the damage suffered. Thus, the greater the damage and impact on the patient’s life, the higher the amount.

What is the risk for the doctor?

The doctor may be ordered to pay you for your injury . In the most extreme cases, he risks a prison sentence or even, but this is extremely rare, the court of assizes. Finally, he risks being struck off the order of doctors.

NB

The Lyon Court of Appeal ordered a surgeon to pay 10 million euros to the parents of a little boy who had become mentally and physically handicapped following a knee operation carried out in September 2001. An exceptionally high amount to be paid the doctor’s insurance company, not the doctor himself. “It is his civil liability which is engaged, it is therefore his insurance company which takes charge of these damages”, explains the family lawyer. The surgeon also escaped criminal conviction, “because the judges considered that the fault committed did not meet the legal criteria for the offense of involuntary injury for which he was prosecuted”.
The child suffers from serious sequelae. He does not speak, hear, see or feed himself. The knee of the young boy, a few months old, is swollen and has bruises. The child, haemophiliac, is taken to a clinic in the suburbs of Lyon. He is seen by an anesthesiologist, then by a surgeon. An operation is performed the next day, despite the absence of a blood test. “It is the absence of this blood test which is at the origin of the accident”, according to the same lawyer. The child was the victim of a haemorrhage with dramatic consequences.
These consequences, extremely heavy, will force the child to need assistance throughout his life, which justifies, for the judges, such an amount of compensation. The conviction on appeal was not subject to any appeal in cassation.

DAMY Law Firm , Nice, Victims’ rights, Update 2022