Giovanni Cannavo
Medical Insurance Consulting stp Cannavo & Partners srl, Italy
Keynote: Primary Health Care
In the past, the medical profession was highly respected and prestigious in Italy and all over the world. The doctor-patient relationship was characterized by complete trust and mistakes as well as negligence of clinicians were deemed as misfortunes or fate. In the last 20 years, because of a growing belief in medical science, patients have become intolerant towards medical mistakes and the phenomenon of Medical Malpractice has risen. The extreme consequence of a complete faith in medicine is that patients believe that they can always be cured and, otherwise, they think they are a victim of medical errors. The roots of this relatively new phenomenon can be found in the activities of associations devoted to the defense of patientsâ?? rights resting upon the stronger belief in oneâ??s civil rights, mass media attention to malpractice cases, evolution of jurisprudence in favor of patients together with the rise of esthetic surgery where there is a legal obligation of a favorable result. This has favored lawsuits against doctors in an abnormal manner, thus leading to a congestion of tribunals, the escape from the market of insurance companies and the skyrocketing of insurance costs for doctors which have reached 50,000 euros. On the other hand, doctorâ??s practice â??defensive medicineâ?, as it was called, rising e.g., laboratory tests and radiological examination prescriptions. In order to contain these expenses, Italian Government issued the first law - Balduzzi Law - that established some limits in favor of clinicians. At present, a new law - Disegno di Legge 2224 - DDL Gelli - was approved by the Higher Chamber (Senate) on 17th January 2017 and should be effective shortly. Our presentation, in the plenary session of the Conference, focuses on the contents of this recently issued law that can stimulate a thought-provoking discussion being it both a reference point for debate and comparison about medical malpractice.
Giovanni Cannavo is a Medical Legal Expert with a Degree in Medicine, Specialization in Surgery and in Insurance & Legal Medicine. He is the CEO of Medical Insurance Consulting stp Cannavò & Partners srl and Medexpert srl, President of the Scientific Society Melchiorre Gioia and General Secretary of CEREDOC (Confédération Européenne d'Experts en Evaluation et Réparation du Dommage Corporel). He was Component of the European Parliament Member Rothley's Team for drafting the European Barème. He was a Member of the Ministry of Health's Commission to create a Medical Table System for assessing personal injuries. He was a Contributor to drafting the first example of Electronic Medical Report, developed by Medexpert and a patent registered in Italy.
Email: info@giovannicannavo.it
