The head doctor of department in a Roman hospital – defended by our firm – has been sued for an alleged malpractice that caused the death of a patient.

His heirs have therefore asked for the condemnation of the doctor and the hospital structure to pay compensation for damages.

Specifically, the patient had died of pulmonary cancer almost 5 years after surgery performed by the head physician to remove a tumor in the tongue.

Family members complained of a responsibility of the health care professional for failing to submit the patient to a chest X-ray during the post-operative follow-up.

Accepting our exceptions, the Court of Rome has excluded any liability of the doctor.

In particular, following technical consultancy, the Court stated that the X-ray investigations requested by the heirs were not only not provided for by the protocols in the absence of specific risks for the patient (as in the case in question), but would not have allowed the timely detection of the specific pulmonary tumor that affected their relative.

(Court of Rome, decision n. 16453/2019 published on 13/08/2019)