Medical responsibility for postpartum hemorrhage

Through a retrospective study of 8 cases of medical liability in obstetrics and gynaecology, our objective was to study the circumstances of the practitioner's liability in case of post-partum haemorrhage, to study the jurisprudence in this field in Tunisian and comparative law and to identify the main measures for the prevention of medicolegal risk in obstetrics and gynaecology. The practitioner's fault could take place before the decision and the indication of the act, or during the intervention, or finally during the monitoring of the patient. The main situations that led to post partum haemorrhage were uterine rupture, uterine inertia, gravid hypertension and its complications and amniotic embolism.No fault was found by the experts. Five of the cases studied were dismissed. At the end of this study, we think that the prevention of medicolegal risk in obstetrics is based on the respect of recommended precautions and the information of the patient and her entourage, in particular in case of complications.

Autorentext

Dr. Malek ZRIBI ist Rechtsmediziner, Lehrbeauftragter für Rechtsmedizin an der medizinischen Fakultät Sfax und praktiziert in der Abteilung für Rechtsmedizin des Universitätsklinikums Habib Bourguiba in Sfax-Tunisien.