Mediation for medical malpractice actions: an efficient approach to the law and veterinary care

Veterinarians today face an increased risk for malpractice claims in view of increased client awareness of the benefits of the human-animal bond and advances in preventive and specialized veterinary medicine. An important problem with medical malpractice litigation is the manner in which malpractice claims are resolved. In several countries, thousands of claims have been successfully resolved via Alternative Dispute Resolution processes such as mediation, conciliation and arbitration. In medical mediation, health care providers, patients/animal owners, families, clergy and attorneys participate directly in an informal, usually voluntary, dispute resolution process that can lead to for unique and promising approaches to resolving conflicts. Recently in Italy framework legislation addressing mediation has been introduced and it is also used to resolve medical malpractice disputes. Given that in Italy medical mediation is formally a new concept and is still evolving, an examination is made. The importance of “mediation” for veterinarians’ civil liability will be evaluated, underlining how it could become an important instrument in speeding up the resolution of court actions concerning medical malpractice.