ABSTRACT
Modern times have been more benign to the shortcomings of the provider of medical care, as society recognizes that peritherapeutic injuries or deaths are not necessarily a result of negligence and may occur without any fault on the part of the provider of care. It is vitally important to increase both the reporting of therapeutic misadventures from the health-care providers as well as to disseminate among the medical community adequate information regarding the nature and possible prevention of adverse peritherapeutic events. This chapter is primarily concerned with the category of iatrogenic injuries designated as therapeutic misadventures, and in particular the fatal therapeutic misadventures. A major group of iatrogenic injuries is the result of conceptual errors or an erroneous concept in selecting a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure. A number of strategies may be devised in order to deal with the reluctance to report serious or fatal therapeutic misadventures.
