Mediating Conflicts in the Medical Sector: General Considerations from the Italian Perspective

This paper focuses on the possibility of adopting a restorative justice approach and introducing mediation in dealing with conflicts that arise in the health care system due to medical malpractice. It moves from the observation that the steep increase in reported criminal cases (mainly negligent bodily injuries and negligent homicide) involving physicians has encouraged the development of "defensive medicine." This is a questionable practice by which physicians and surgeons hope to avoid criminal charges or civil actions resulting from their professional behavior. After presenting the available statistical data on medical malpractice and on "defensive medicine" in Italy, this paper will seek to evaluate whether the introduction of mediation-which is allowed by the Italian Act 67/2014-can delay the adoption of an attitude of defensive medicine and, in a wider perspective, discusses whether restorative justice and mediation in the health care system are feasible and desirable.