Patients vs. the System: Why People Are Afraid to Sue Private Clinics

Despite numerous patient complaints, stories of deaths during treatment in private clinics, and public outcry, medical negligence cases in Ukraine rarely reach court. The reason lies not only in the difficulty of proving medical error but also in the cost of litigation and the clear imbalance of power between the patient and the private clinic. UNN investigated why, even in the most high-profile cases, patients' fight for justice can stall halfway.

Medical cases in Ukraine are among the most complex in judicial practice. Despite public interest in the topic of medical negligence, tragic stories of patient deaths, and numerous public complaints, only a few reach court.

Maksym Herasko, managing partner of "Maksymalnyi Zakhyst" Law Firm, explains that the problem is not the absence of verdicts as such, but the complexity of the system itself, which was historically formed during the dominance of state medicine.

There are verdicts, just not many of them. I think this practice was established when all medical institutions were state-owned. Currently, this practice is changing for the better, as we have more and more private medical institutions, and it is already possible to obtain a verdict.

According to the lawyer, the financial aspect of the issue also plays a significant role. Medical cases require substantial resources – this includes not only legal fees but also numerous expert examinations, which are critically important for proving medical error.

You have to go through many instances, collect a lot of evidence, conduct forensic medical examinations and others, which increases costs that not everyone is willing to bear. Because, as a rule, if a medical error is irreparable, then very often people initially react emotionally (editor's note: statements to law enforcement agencies). When emotions run high, they sue, sue, and then, of course, stop paying for it, because they realize that they are incurring costs, and in the end, it's not even a given that they will win.

Another key factor is the inequality of the parties. Private clinics have legal departments and financial resources. The patient, however, is often left alone against the system. Moreover, even the basic proof of medical error, in Ukrainian realities, turns into a complex and often unattainable process for the patient. This is not just about legal nuances, but about the simple lack of necessary evidence for the person. As Maksym Herasko explains, the key problem begins at the stage of collecting medical documentation, without which any legal process effectively loses its meaning.

The thing is that, in principle, it is always difficult for a patient to prove the guilt of a doctor or institution for reasons such as, for example, very often patients are not given their medical history. Not every patient collects all certificates, all extracts, all conclusions and has medical documents that allow establishing a doctor's error.

The expert also draws attention to the broader context of the problem – the transformation of the medical system in Ukraine, which directly affects both the quality of services and the number of conflict situations between doctors and patients. Thus, the country is gradually moving away from the model of state medicine, but a full-fledged and high-quality alternative in the form of the private sector has not yet been formed.

We have a tendency to reduce state institutions, and we are moving towards private medicine, and, unfortunately, the quality of this private medicine sometimes leaves much to be desired. And we are reducing state ones, and therefore, if there was competition between state and private before, it created a fairly high level of medicine in the country.

A separate factor that exacerbates the problem is the personnel crisis, which has only intensified against the backdrop of the war. In such conditions, he notes, the market faces a shortage of qualified personnel, as a significant part of experienced doctors go abroad in search of better working conditions. As a result, patients are increasingly faced with an insufficient level of training of medical personnel, which directly affects the quality of treatment.

Despite all the problems mentioned, lawyer Maksym Herasko is not inclined to talk about the complete impunity of doctors, but admits that the path to accountability is difficult and not accessible to everyone.

Recall

Svitlana Huk's story is one of the most illustrative examples of how medical cases in Ukraine do not reach a conclusion for years. For six years, she has been trying to establish the circumstances of her husband's death during treatment at the Odesa clinic Odrex.

Despite the opening of criminal proceedings, court cases, and repeated attempts to conduct examinations, the widow has still not received answers to her questions. Currently, the court has appointed another medical examination in Lviv, on which Svitlana Huk places great hopes.