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Acta Bioethica

SciELO Chile

Complaints against physicians in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Authors

Abstract

The Regional Councils of Medicine are responsible for the first instance evaluation of ethical-professional complaints against physicians in each federation state. The relevance of the study is based on the importance of evaluating the professional profile of the reported physician, the characteristics of the complaints, and the judging body performance. This study assessed 966 complaints against physicians made to the Regional Council of Medicine of Minas Gerais (CRM/MG) from 2012 to 2017. There was no difference in the average age of the professionals or the period of professional practice. Gynecology, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, and Plastic Surgery comprised most of the complaints regarding medical specialties. The non-specialty reports reached 323 (34%) cases and predominated over the years studied. The number of acquittals was relatively high, in a total of 535 cases, in which the Regional Council of Medicine of Minas Gerais (CRM/MG) considered the complaints unfounded. The hypothesis of a certain corporativism of the CRM did not seem viable since thirty cases received harsher punishments, and among them, eight were removed from professional practice. Some professionals were reported more than once. It is worth noting that the number of recidivists and cases progressively decreased from 2012 to 2017.

Keywords:

bioethics, medical ethics; specialization; professional ethics