Algeria: 3 thousand pending cases of victims of medical errors

The Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform, Abdelmalek Boudiaf, ordered last Wednesday the setting up of a special inquiry commission made up of high-level health experts to investigate the reasons behind the high proportion of victims of medical errors in Algeria.

The ministerial move followed a detailed report conveyed to the health ministry accompanied by 500 pictures showing the physical disabilities suffered by more than three thousand people from medical errors in both the public and private health sectors, causing sometimes deaths and often permanent disabilities.

These registered awful medical errors concern mostly women and children, owing to the complacency and

indifference of nurses, midwives and doctors who are held accountable for these rising medical lapses.

In terms of figures, the relevant report refers to the registration of more than 3,200 cases of victims of medical errors, mostly women and children, and that more than 65 percent of the victims refuse to go to court to seek damages, because of the absence of a clear-cut law protecting them, and the complexity of conducting legally this type of cases, with 80 percent of them being referred to The Supreme Court.

It should be noted, meanwhile, that the victims of medical errors already have a structure able to defend and represent them but they are still held up by constraints of all kinds including bureaucratic hurdles. In the presence of lawyers, medical professionals, academics, the association of victims of medical errors was created in 2012 in Algiers, headed by Mr. Mohamed Aïssaoui, a lawyer by profession. The purpose of this structure is to assert the rights of these people sometimes victims of serious medical errors.

Amar Khebaba, lawyer by profession, said: “Its mission is to defend the interests of these people,” adding, “We wanted this structure to be a link between the victims of medical errors and the various sectors. Lamenting the lack of a regulatory framework, the lawyer pointed to a legal vacuum regarding the texts meant to defend the rights of victims.

He stressed in this context that, in our country, no legislation formally recognizes the responsibility of health institutions and health facilities in the field. “In Algeria, the rights of the sick and disabled are poor,” deplored Mr Khebaba, who further stated that this does not allow the

victims or their descendants to claim their rights to financial compensation.

For his part, Aboubkeur Abdelhakim, general practitioner, stressed the urgency of developing legislation concerning the protection of this category of people of the society and their dependents.

As for Ms. Hamza Atika, a nurse by profession and a mother of a deceased daughter following a medical error, she regrets the lack of professionalism among some faulty doctors who do not assume their responsibility for their awful lapses. She called in this context for full accountability and law enforcement against the defaulters.