Many doctors have no liability to the detriment of the patients

Many doctors do not take out any professional liability. For patients, this means that the more serious the treatment error is, the less such doctors can pay for the damage.

Doctors who work hard in a hospital are subject to social security contributions - according to the Landessozialgericht Niedersachsen-Bremen.

Without liability insurance, doctors often can not pay for medical errors (Coloures-pic)

A patient can not check if the attending physician has a liability - there is no public register. Although doctors are required to take out professional indemnity insurance, this is barely controlled. Since such insurance can cost tens of thousands of euros, for example, at surgeons, some doctors save these expensive contributions.

In case of a treatment error, the doctor is obliged to pay. However, if those involved go to court, the proceedings sometimes drag on years in which the victims can slip into financial ruin, for example, because they are incapacitated for work or have to pay expensive therapies themselves. In the meantime, patients have no general legal protection.

The more serious the treatment errors are, and the higher the compensation, the greater the risk that the doctor will not be able to pay privately for the guilty verdict. What's more, the victims must be solicited by lawyers, expert opinions and post-treatment. A check of the medical associations, whether doctors have a professional liability insurance, so is long overdue. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)