German patients vulnerable to medical malpractice:

Patients in Germany are not able to properly protect themselves from faulty or unsafe methods of treatment claims the federal association for consumer protection (VZBV). Speaking in Berlin last week, Thomas Isenberg of the VZBV said that patients were given limited information about operations. They should be given details about the frequency of the operation they were to undergo and also the possibility of medical mistakes being made. Mr Isenberg added that it was too often the case that patients were at the mercy of the commercial interests of the doctors, pharmacists other healthcare providers. A study published last week by Transparency International (TI), showed that each year German hospitals deal with some 200,000 cases resulting from incorrectly-prescribed pharmaceuticals. Between 5,000-8000 patients die yearly as a result of these mistakes.