When OB/GYNs commit medical mistakes, negligence and malpractice, the stakes are uniquely high. The results can be catastrophic, heartbreaking — and often remain secret. A Star/Ryerson investigation.
Richard Lautens / Toronto Star
“I personally direct more of my anger, blame and bitterness toward
the system than I do the individual physician,” says Laura MacGregor,
whose son Matthew suffered catastrophic brain injuries during birth.
“There may be more lawsuits in other
specialties for smaller amounts, but in obstetrics there are higher
(settlements),” he says. “Surviving is significantly more expensive than
dying.”
Obstetrics is considered the highest-risk
branch of medicine, according to medical insurance figures paid by most
physicians in Canada.
The national legal insurance fund for doctors,
the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA), will charge
individual obstetricians (with or without a gynecological practice)
$72,456 in premiums in 2016 — an amount far beyond any other specialty.
More than 80 per cent of that is subsidized by taxpayers, a recent Star investigation reported.
This year, the CMPA singled out obstetrics —
the care of patients during pregnancy and childbirth — as the only
medical specialty to receive its own specific education program aimed at
improving patient care and reducing costs of litigation and
settlements.
“In a baby case, the compensation takes into
account an entire lifetime,” says Bell. “In other specialties, we are
normally dealing with adults who generally are not neurologically
compromised thus requiring less intense care, and the life span is
usually considerably shorter.”
