The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into healthcare has revolutionized various aspects of clinical practice, including the management of medical malpractice disputes. AI-driven technologies, particularly machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP), enable the automated analysis of electronic health records (EHRs) and other medical documentation, improving the efficiency, accuracy, and transparency of malpractice investigations. By systematically identifying inconsistencies, detecting patterns of errors, and evaluating compliance with clinical guidelines, AI systems offer valuable insights into potential negligence claims. This study examines the impact of AI on medical record management in malpractice disputes, addressing its role in mitigating human biases, enhancing forensic assessments, and supporting legal decision-making. AI-powered algorithms facilitate objective analysis by cross-referencing vast datasets of patient histories, diagnostic reports, and treatment protocols, thus strengthening the evidentiary basis for malpractice claims. However, despite its advantages, the use of AI in forensic and legal medicine raises significant ethical and legal concerns, including issues of accountability, data privacy, and algorithmic bias. Questions regarding liability in AI-assisted medical decision-making and the potential risk of over-reliance on automated assessments must be critically addressed. To maximize AI's benefits while minimizing risks, robust regulatory frameworks, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical oversight are essential. Ensuring transparency in AI-driven decision-making and safeguarding patient rights will be crucial in fostering trust in these technologies. The findings suggest that AI-assisted medical record analysis can significantly enhance dispute resolution processes by providing standardized, data-driven evaluations of malpractice claims, ultimately contributing to more equitable and efficient healthcare litigation.

Background: Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs among adolescents and young people, and problematic alcohol use (PAU) is related to significant long-term biological, clinical, and psychosocial sequelae. Although preliminary reports have linked deficits in mentalization to increased vulnerability to addiction, no studies have specifically explored this phenomenon in relation to PAU. Methods: The association between mentalization impairment and PAU severity was investigated in a sample of 271 young adults (183 females, 65.9%; mean age: 23.20 ± 3.55 years; range: 18–34). Self-report measures investigating PAU and mentalization were administered to all participants. Results: Individuals with PAU reported a more frequent use of tobacco and illicit drugs in the last 12 months. PAU severity was negatively associated with mentalization capacity (rho = −0.21; p < 0.001), and also, when possible, confounding variables (i.e., gender, age, occupation, education, tobacco and illegal drugs use) were controlled for (rho = −0.17; p = 0.004). Conclusion: The present data showed that mentalization impairment is significantly associated with PAU among young adults, suggesting that it may have a role in the development and/or maintenance of alcohol use.

The article aims to elaborate on two recent European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decisions which have rejected, on grounds of non-admissibility, the appeals by two Swedish midwives who refused to...

(1) Background: Identifying hospital-related critical, and excellent, areas represents the main goal of this paper, in both a national and local setting. Information was collected and organized for an internal company’s reports, regarding civil litigation that has been affecting the hospital, to relate the obtained results with the phenomenon of medical malpractice on a national scale. This is for the development of targeted improvement strategies, and for investing available resources in a proficient way. (2) Methods: In the present study, data from claims management in Umberto I General Hospital, Agostino Gemelli University Hospital Foundation and Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital Foundation, from 2013 to 2020 were collected. A total of 2098 files were examined, and a set of 13 outcome indicators in the assessment of “quality of care” was proposed. (3) Results: From the total number, only 779 records (37.1%) were attributable to the categories indexable for the present analysis. This data highlights how, following a correct and rigorous categorization of hospital events, it is possible to analyze these medico-legal aspects using a small number of indicators. Furthermore, it is important to consider how a consistent percentage of remaining events was difficult to index, and was also of poor scientific interest. (4) Conclusions: The proposed indicators do not require standards to be compared to, but provide a useful instrument for comparative purposes. In fact, in addition to comparative assessment between different business realities distributed throughout the territory, the use of outcome indicators allows for a longitudinal analysis evaluating the performance of an individual structure over time.

The COVID-19 health emergency has thrown the health systems of most European countries into a deep crisis, forcing them to call off and postpone all interventions deemed not essential or life-saving in order to focus most resources on the treatment of COVID-19 patients. To facilitate women who are experiencing difficulties in terminating their pregnancies in Italy, the Ministry of Health has adapted to the regulations in force in most European countries and issued new guidelines that allow medical abortion up to 63 days, i.e., 9 weeks of gestational age, without mandatory hospitalization. This decision was met with some controversy, based on the assumption that the abortion pill could “incentivize” women to resort to abortion more easily. In fact, statistical data show that in countries that have been using medical abortion for some time, the number of abortions has not increased. The authors expect that even in Italy, as is the case in other European countries, the use of telemedicine is likely to gradually increase as a safe and valuable option in the third phase of the health emergency. The authors argue that there is a need to favor pharmacological abortion by setting up adequately equipped counseling centers, as is the case in other European countries, limiting hospitalization to only a few particularly complex cases.