What Dental Malpractice Means Legally
The Georgian trajectory of dental malpractice is professional and disciplinary, defined by the Law on Medical Activity. Its foundation is the concept of professional liability: a subject of independent medical activity answers for violations of medical standards and ethical norms connected with the examination, care and treatment of a patient. A dentist is a subject of this law, since dental specialties belong to the list of medical specialties — the same liability regime therefore extends to the dentist.
The application of this regime begins with what the patient sees: carelessly performed treatment, an unjustified procedure or a breach of the standard. Legally, everything begins with a single question: was a medical standard or an ethical norm violated — and it is to precisely this question that the Council, the organ examining questions of professional liability, gives its answer.
The Types of Professional Liability
The law establishes the entire ladder of professional liability: a written warning; suspension of the state certificate; cancellation of the state certificate; restriction on prescribing narcotic, psychotropic and alcohol-containing medicines; and other measures provided by legislation. Decisions on these measures are taken by the Council, while the subject has the right to challenge any of them in court — the disciplinary career does not end at the Council's walls, and final justice reaches the court.
The step from warning to suspension is also precise: where a subject has received a written warning at least three times within one calendar year, the Council is competent to consider suspending the certificate. No warning is given after five years from the violation, nor for participation in a strike or similar action — circumstances that limit the Council's competence in time and by subject matter.
The Complaint Route — from Patient to Council
The grounds for a warning are enumerated by law: an application or complaint of the patient, the patient's relative or legal representative; an application of the employer; an application of the head of the medical institution — confirmed by more than two colleagues working in the same institution; a complaint of colleagues — confirmed by the head; and information supplied by the employer or the institution. Where a criminal case has been initiated, a complaint concerning the same act is not examined — the disciplinary and the criminal routes do not mix.
The complaint is submitted to the Council in writing and must contain the complainant's name, surname, date of birth and address; the subject's name, surname, specialty and workplace address; the substance of the complaint and the demand; and other circumstances. It must be signed; a representative's authority is certified by a notary or, in cases provided by legislation, by the head of the institution. The Council must notify the subject of the complaint within one week of its submission, disclose its content on request, decide within two months, and notify both the subject and the complainant within ten days of the decision. The Council's decision may be appealed in court.
What Does Not Apply in Georgia
The United States model of administrative enforcement by dental boards — each state board's own procedure for revoking a license — does not exist as such in Georgia: what operates here is the Law on Medical Activity's own machinery — the Council, the ladder of measures from a warning to cancellation of the certificate, and the right of judicial appeal. That machinery, not imported models, carries a dentist's malpractice case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below we answer the questions most frequently asked about dental malpractice.
Who decides a dentist's disciplinary case?
The Council — the organ examining questions of the professional liability of a subject of independent medical activity; its decisions can be appealed in court.
Which measures may be applied?
From a written warning to suspension and cancellation of the state certificate, including restriction on prescribing medicines; the ladder of measures is defined by law.
How do I file a complaint?
In writing, to the Council — with your name, date of birth and address, the subject's details, the substance and the demand; the Council decides within two months.
When does the Council consider suspension?
When a subject has received a written warning at least three times within one calendar year — then suspension of the certificate becomes examinable.
A written warning is given to a subject that intentionally or negligently fails to perform established professional duties; its grounds are an application or complaint of the patient, of a relative or lawful representative, or of the employer. Professional liability attaches to breach of medical standards and ethical norms and is applied under the procedure established by legislation.
Below are frequent questions about dental malpractice.
What types of professional liability exist?
A written warning; suspension of the state certificate; cancellation of the certificate; restriction on prescribing narcotic, psychotropic and alcohol-containing medicines; other measures provided by legislation.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The advocates of Legal.ge run dental disputes from both sides: for the patient we shape the complaint to the Council's requirements and manage the case with deadline control; for the dentist we analyse the facts of the alleged violation, prepare the response with exculpatory circumstances and, where an appeal is needed, represent you in court. Contact us — in a disciplinary case the first document often predetermines the outcome.