Mediation in Turkish Health Law for Healthcare Disputes

In order to prevent overburdened courts, rising costs of litigation, and lengthy trial resolutions, the Law on Mediation for Civil Disputes was enacted, which was aimed at defining the procedure and guiding principles for dispute resolutions under Civil Law, in 2012. This “Mediation Code” also applies for civil healthcare disputes in Turkey. Aside from mediation, reconciliation, governed by Articles 253-255 of Criminal Procedure Law, has emerged as an alternative way to resolve criminal medical disputes, but the difference between mediation and conciliation is mostly procedural. This article deals with mediation in Turkish health law and aspect of medical malpractice mediation in Turkey. In addition, this study examines the issue of mediation in health law from both a legal and normative point of view, including codes of mediation which regulate both the structural and professional practice of mediation providers. As a result, although there is not official record about success rate of medical malpractice litigations and malpractice mediation in Turkey, it is widely accepted that the success rate for medical malpractice cases is relatively low compared to other personal injury cases even if it is generally considered that medical malpractice case filings have gradually increased recently. According to the Justice Ministry’s Department of Mediation in Turkey, 719 civil disputes have referred to mediators since 2013 (when the first mediation law came into force) with a 98% success rate.

Authors:

• V. Durmus
• M. Uydaci

Keywords:

• Malpractice mediation
• medical disputes
• reconciliation
• health litigation
• Turkish Health Law.

References:

[1] S.J. Ware, “Principles of Alternative Dispute Resolution”, 2nd ed. Thomson West 2007, p.2-5.
[2] S. Sandy Sanbar, Marvin H. Firestone and Theodore R. Le Blang, “Legal Medicine”, 7th Ed., American Collage of Legal Medicine Textbook Committee, 2007, p.305-310.
[3] E. Zonana, “Getting Healthier: A Proposal for Improving Medical Malpractice Mediation”, Am. J. Mediation 9 2011, p.10.
[4] Mediation speeds up Judicial Process in Turkey, Daily Sabah (Feb. 23, 2015), http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2015/02/23/mediation-speeds-up-judicial-process-in-Turkey.
[5] S. Kubba. Chapter 16: Building Green Litigation and Liability Issues, In: Handbook of Green Building Design and Construction, Elsevier Publishing, 2012, p.740
[6] National Standards for Court-Connected Mediation Programs, Center for Dispute Settlement the Institute of Judicial Administration. Washington DC. Available from: http://courtadr.org/files/NationalStandardsADR.pdf (last visited 16 Sept., 2015).
[7] S. Sandy Sanbar, Chapter 22: Alternative Dispute Resolution of Claims, In The Medical Malpractice Survival Handbook, American College of Legal Medicine, 7th ed., 2007, p.241.
[8] S. Sandy Sanbar, Chapter 30: Alternative Dispute Resolution, In Legal Medicine, 7th ed., 2007, p.305-315
[9] Susan J. Szmania, Addie M. Johnson, Margaret Mulligan, “Alternative Dispute Resolution in Medical Malpractice: A Survey of Emerging Trends and Practices”, Conflict Resolution Quarterly, vol.26, no.1, Fall 2008, p.74-75.
[10] B. Sonny Bal, “An Introduction to Medical Malpractice in the United States”, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, vol.467, no.2. 2009, p.339-340.
[11] Black’s Law Dictionary, 7th Ed., 1999, Medical Malpractice (definition), p. 971.
[12] H. Morreim, “Malpractice, Mediation, and Moral Hazard: The Virtues of Dodging the Data Bank”, 27 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 2012, p.113-115.
[13] Report of the Harvard Medical Practice Study to the State of New York. The President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, 1990, p.10-2 and 10-3.
[14] J. William Thomas et al., Low Costs of Defensive Medicine, Small Savings from Tort Reform, Health Aff. Vol.29, 2010, p.1578.
[15] Edward A. Dauer, A Therapeutic Jurisprudence Perspective on Legal Responses to Medical Error, J. Legal Med. Vol.24, 2003, pp.37-43.
[16] Carol B. Liebman & Chris Stern Hyman, Medical Error Disclosure, Mediatıon Skills, And Malpractıce Litigation: A Demonstration Project in Pennsylvania, 2005, p.2-3.
[17] Richard C. Boothman, et al. A Better Approach to Medical Malpractice Claims? The University of Michigan Experience, Health&Life Sci. L. Vol.125, no.2, 2009, p.133.
[18] Thomas M. O'Toole, et al., The Anatomy ofa Medical Malpractice Verdict, Mont. L. Rev. Vol.70, 2009, p.57-58.
[19] Edward A. Dauer & Leonard J. Marcus, Adapting Mediation to Link Resolution of Medical Malpractice Disputes with Health Care Quality, 60-Wtr Law & Contemp. Probs. 185, 1997, pp.161.
[20] E. Galton, Mediation of Medical Negligence Claims, 28 Cap. U.L. Rev. 321, 2000, p.321-322.
[21] Carol B. Liebman & Chris Stern Hyman, “Medical Error Disclosure, Mediation and Malpractıce Litigation: A Demonstration Project in Pennsylvania, at 7. Available from: http://www. pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Medical_liabilityh/LiebmanReport.pdf (last visited March 10, 2016).
[22] Florence Yee, Mandatory Mediation: The Extra Does Needed to Cure the Medical Malpractice Crisis, 7 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 393, 2006, p.418.
[23] J. K. Robbenolt, What We Know and Don't Know About the Role of Apologies in Resolving Healthcare Disputes, 21 GA. St. U. L. Rev. 1009, 2005, p.1016.
[24] Tuğrul Ansay, Law of Obligations (Chapter 9), In Introduction to Turkish Law, 6th. ed, Tugrul Ansay & Don Wallace Jr. eds., 2011, p.169.
[25] R. Murat Onok, Criminal Law, In Introduction to Turkish Law (Tugrul Ansay & Don Wallace Jr. eds., 6th ed. 2011, p.185.
[26] Christopher W. Moore, The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict, 4th ed. 2014, p.67.
[27] Milletlerarası Tahkim Kanunu (International Arbitration Law) Law No. 4686 of Jul 5, 2001. Art 1 (In Turkish).
[28] Türk Ceza Usul Kanunu (The Turkish Code of Turkish Criminal Procedure) Law No 5271 of Dec. 4, 2004 (In Turkish).
[29] H. Savas, “Yargıya Yansıyan Tıbbi Müdahale Hataları” (Medical Malpractice Cases on the Court), Seckin Publishing, Ankara, Turkey. 2009, p.187. (In Turkish).
[30] Hukuk Uyuşmazlıklarında Arabuluculuk Kanunu Yönetmeliği (Regulation of Mediation in Civil Disputes), Resmi Gazete(RG) No. 28540 of January 26, 2013, art 24, para.3/b. (In Turkish).
[31] 6325 sayılı Arabuluculuk Kanunu (The Turkish Code of the Mediation) Law No 6325 of June 7, 2012, art.20 (In Turkish).
[32] Sonucuna Göre Arabuluculuk İstatistikleri (Mediation Statistics), Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Adalet Bakanlığı Arabuluculuk Daire Başkanlığı (Head of Mediation Department in Turkish Republic Ministry of Justice), http://www.adb.adalet.gov.tr/Sayfalar/istatistikler/uygulamalar/ adb_uygulamalari/images/sonuc.pdf (last visited Sept.20, 2015). (In Turkish).
[33] Mediation Speeds Up Judicial Process in Turkey, Daily Sabah (Feb. 23, 2015). http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2015/02/23/mediation-speeds-up-judicial-process-in-turkey.
[34] 6502 sayılı Tüketicinin Korunması Hakkında Kanun (Turkish Consumer’s Protection Code), Law No. 6502 of Sept 7, 2011, art. 1 (In Turkish).
[35] Dean M. Harris & Chien-Chang Wu. Medical Malpractice in the People’s Republic of China: The 2002 Regulation on the Handling of Medical Accidents. 2005, Feb 18, p.19. Available from: http://www.temple.edu/lawschool/phrhcs/conference/deanmalpractice.pdf. (last visited 2016, Feb 20).
[36] Hasan Petek, Tıbbi Müdahalelerden Kaynaklanan Uyuşmazlıklarda Tüketicinin Korunması Hakkında Kanun’un Uygulanması (Implementation of Consumer’s Defense Code on Medical Disputes arising from Medical Intervenes), Dokuz Eylul Universitesi Law Journal. 2014, vol:15, p.969-972. (In Turkish).
[37] Mehtap Tatar et al., Turkey: Health System Review, Health System in Transition 13, no.6, 2011, p. 169-170. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/158883/e96441.pdf?ua=1.
[38] J. Thomas, The Effect of Medical Malpractice, 19 Annals Health L. Advance Directive 2010, pp.314. Available from http://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/law/centers/healthlaw/pdfs/advancedirective/pdfs/issue4/thomas.pdf. (last visited Feb 10, 2016).