Late complications after medical treatment--malpractice or fate?

During the past decade, interest in medical malpractice has increased both by the public and the authorities. Malpractice is likely to be considered if an adverse effect occurs shortly after medical intervention, but complications might lead to impairment or death of the patient even years after surgical treatment. Two unusual cases of such late complications are described. In the first case, the patient died from a complication, which was due to an unnoticeable malfunction of a surgical device. The second case concerns a retained surgical towel, which had remained within the abdominal cavity for 25 years without causing any complaints and had no influence on the cause of death. Medico-legal autopsy is an indispensable basic tool in the assessment of medical malpractice.