Description and Number of Complaints (N = 250)
| Type and Example of Complaint | Complaints | Complaints With Physician at Fault | Complaints With Serious Health Outcomes | Complaints With Serious Health Outcomes and Physician at Fault |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrong diagnosis: allowing cycling, when a hip fracture was diagnosed later; diagnosing influenza in a patient with meningitis | 60 | 27 | 33 | 18 |
| Insufficient medical care: family physician diagnoses myocardial infarction but does not stay with patient until ambulance arrives, and patient dies of cardiac arrest before ambulance arrives. No referral to a urologist in a male patient with recurring urinary infections | 54 | 20 | 17 | 11 |
| Wrong treatment: giving amoxicillin to a patient with known allergy; wrong type of lithium | 23 | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| Referral too late: missing of a malignancy (metastatic) in a patient with lower back pain; missing of a breast carcinoma | 18 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Incorrect statement or declaration: family physician gives an incorrect statement to the police about violence within a family; family physician gives incorrect information about the husband in a child abuse case | 15 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Violation of privacy: family physician notes down medical information about patient in letter to her ex-husband; family physician gives the medical record to a family member without permission | 14 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Not showing up, or too late at a house visit: family physician refuses a house visit for a patient with (as later shown) a stroke; family physician refuses a house visit because patient lives too far away | 14 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Insufficient information: eg, family physician did not give information about side effects of corticosteroid; family physician refuses to talk to a patient | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Impolite behavior: family physician refuses to lift fallen patient, fire department had to come; family physician shouts at a patient | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Inappropriate contact with patient: sexual relationship with a patient | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Wrong billing: patient found billing too high | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 19 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Impossible to identify the type of complaints | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 250 | 88 | 74 | 37 |