Medical errors in our country are estimated at around 6,000 a year, though of course not all of them reach the courts. On the one hand, the event is often concealed from the patient or attributed to a natural consequence of their illness; on the other, patients do not want to get caught up in legal battles, believing they will be up against the Goliath of the system. Still, according to a Eurobarometer survey, 70% of Greeks worry that they will suffer a medical error, while 13% say they have already suffered a medical error in a hospital. In recent years, however, complaints have been on the rise, mainly because of greater public awareness and knowledge of patients’ rights, but also because of a crucial change to the Code of Medical Ethics, which put an end to the notion that the doctor is the absolute god of the medical act: it is a doctor–patient partnership. In fact, alongside the street vendors, the well-known “negligence lawyers” now roam hospital corridors, looking for clients among the patients. It is no coincidence that most doctors today take out civil liability insurance in case of a medical error.
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