Despite its less intrusive technique, bronchoscopy is not without mistakes and consequences. Patients may seek legal remedies if such errors occur. The study’s goal was to characterise the context, contributing factors, and results of lawsuits involving bronchoscopic procedures. Westlaw, an online legal research data collection, was queried for all bronchoscopy-related medical malpractice cases recorded in the United States between 1983 and 2018. A total of 87 instances were included in the study. The most prevalent speciality mentioned in the instances was pulmonology. The most often stated reason for the lawsuit was a procedural difficulty, which was followed by failure to diagnose and failure to treat. A total of 49 instances were resolved in favour of the defendant physician, and in 20 cases, a settlement was negotiated prior to the trial judge. Plaintiff awards and settlement payouts averaged $1,729,560 and $648,000, respectively. The only case characteristic that was substantially linked with an increased probability of payment was the failure to acquire complete informed permission. Despite the value of bronchoscopy in detecting a variety of pulmonary diseases, bronchoscopy-related complications were discovered to be the primary cause of lawsuits.
Identifying and correcting mistakes with care and proper permission may minimise the frequency of bronchoscopy-related malpractice claims.
