The success of malpractice lawsuits in the Czech Republic
In recent years, lawsuits involving medical malpractice are becoming more and more common in the Czech Republic. People are no longer afraid of losing, and recently, they have not been losing. Most successful lawsuits refer to negligence which occurred during a childbirth or a botched up surgery. Lawsuits against IVF clinics and plastic surgery clinics have also become more common now.
Challenging medical malpractice in court has long been the practice in the U.S. and other countries, but the problem in the Czech Republic has always been that doctors do not want to testify against their colleagues. Doctors, moreover, are not eager to testify against other doctors even if they witnessed some negligent act firsthand. Another problem is that there has to be an official medical expert opinion for every case, and in the past there have been problems with correctness the of these evaluations. However, the attitude of the courts is changing and more people are winning.
Here are a few cases that where the plaintiffs won malpractice case in the Czech Republic:
– CZK 30 million (both parties agreed to reduce to CZK 20 million) – In June 2014, the Prague 10 District Court awarded the compensation to the disabled boy’s family. It was to be paid for by the Vinohrady Hospital in Prague, where the boy was born paralyzed in 2009. The birth was planned, but ended in paralysis, blindness and deafness of the child who required around the clock care. The hospital appealed the verdict and both parties eventually agreed on an amount which was ten million CZK lower in an out-of-court settlement in the summer of 2014. The boy died in October 2014.
– CZK 18 million – In April 2008, the Regional Court of Appeals in Pilsen awarded compensation to the paralyzed mother of two children from Horní Slavkov in the Sokolov region. In 2003, at the Sokolov hospital, the doctors, whilst performing an angiography, injected her with a contrast agent to which she was probably allergic. She fell into a coma and became paralyzed. The Pilsen regional government paid the amount for the hospital.
– CZK 16.5 million – In 2007, the Prostějov hospital paid compensation to a family from the Prostějov region for the late resuscitation of their son. In a case that went on for more than five years, the Regional Court in Brno eventually confirmed that the doctors had made a mistake. As a newborn, the boy’s heart stopped and as a result of this, he also stopped breathing. He suffered irreversible brain damage.
– CZK 15 million – In 2010, the Liberec region was to pay compensation (in lieu of the Liberec Hospital) to the family whose son suffered irreversible brain damage during birth. The doctor who was responsible for the birth was also sued. However, at the time of the investigation the hospital documentation of the delivery disappeared, so the court could not prove her guilt.
– CZK 13.5 million – In 2001, a family from Žirovnice received compensation from the Pelhřimov hospital for negligence during a birth. The boy was born severely disabled due to lack of care. For the rest of his life he will be paralyzed on the right side of his body and completely blind. The court did not prove it was the doctor’s mistake.
– Almost CZK 12 million – In February 2009, the Board of Appeal of the Municipal Court in Prague decided that the Bulovka Hospital must compensate the parents of a boy who, in 2000, underwent a normal abdominal surgery. However, he suffered brain damage due to the doctors’ alleged failure when disconnecting him from the breathing apparatus. Both doctors were acquitted.
– CZK 10.5 million – In June 2016, the Brno City Court ruled that the local teaching hospital must pay CZK 10.5 million to compensate parents whose son ended up with a brain injury after an adenoids surgery. The case happened in 2010, when the then three-year-old boy underwent surgery. Both parents and the hospital appealed. In June 2017 both parties agreed on an out-of-court settlement, the details were not disclosed.
– CZK 9 million -In March 2019 the Pardubice Court of Appeal decided that the regional firm of the Pardubice Region Hospital will pay approximately CZK million because a patient was left paralyzed during a routine procedure. Artist, and former mayor of Ústí nad Orlicí, Richard Pešek fell into a coma in October 2011 after an ear surgery in the Orlické Ústí Hospital.
– CZK 6 million – As an advanced payment for compensation, the Pardubice hospital offered CZK 6 million to the family of a boy who, in 2017, fell into a coma after an adenoids operation and later had coma complications. In addition, the family should have unlimited care costs. In March the total amount of compensation for the hospital was estimated at CZK 15.5 million. The family is seeking CZK 22 million in a lawsuit, mostly due to the family´s financial problems which stem from having to raise a disabled child.
In most cases, the compensation is paid for either by the hospital or the regional government in which the hospital is. Usually doctors themselves don´t even show up in court. If either for lack of evidence or lack of testimony.
For more information about medical malpractice lawsuits in the Czech Republic, please contact
Monika Rutland, partner
rutland & partners, advokátní kancelář s.r.o.
tel: +420 226 226 026
email: monika.rutland@rutlands.cz
