About 35th Annual Conference, Obstetrics, Gynecology, Perinatal Medicine, Neonatology, and the Law

To err is human, but so is the ability to anticipate and prevent or avoid medical error. When death or permanent harm occurs as a consequence of medical negligence, there is little, if any, likelihood that survivor or family will readily accept the refrain “to err is human”.

Fortunately, not all who fall victim to medical error initiate legal action, but many do. The National Practitioner Database shows that between 2006-2016, for 102,659 sued physicians, there were 109,672 malpractice payments, and 60,460 Adverse Action Reports.

The Physicians Insurers Association of America had, by 2012, paid out 81,000 claims, totaling nearly $25,000,000,000.
Despite the evolution of a “culture of patient safety” over almost two decades, death and harm due to medical negligence remain a serious problem.

Indeed, estimates clearly indicate that medical negligence is the third cause of death in the US, after heart disease and cancer. It is of no comfort to know that medical negligence is universal.

While the causes of medical negligence are multi-factorial and complex, individual and systemic, there is a clear need for a fundamental change in the education of medical students and the training of residents. Moreover, required risk management credits for practicing physicians have largely been ineffective, and a new approach is long overdue.

These two multispecialty conferences bring into sharp focus new and established guidelines and standards of care, issues of competence, new advances, new judicial opinions, and ethics.

The first conference concentrates on pregnancy, its management and the newborn, while the interdigitating and overlapping second conference takes up discussion along similar themes, but in multiple specialties.