*2.1. Data Collection*

The authors conducted a retrospective multi-centric study of malpractice complaints registered in the period 2006–2019 at the Commissions on monitoring and professional competence for malpractice cases in the region of Moldova, which includes 8 counties (Bacau, Botosani, Galati, Iasi, Neamt, Suceava, Vaslui, Vrancea). Data were collected from complaints submitted by patients who were treated in either public (*n* = 26) or private (*n* = 14) medical institutions or their family members and from decisions made by the commissions in each case. The collection, storage, and processing of data were done with respect for the confidentiality of personal data of doctors and plaintiffs.

The collected data concerned, on the one hand, the reasons for the complaints and, on the other hand, the persons who made the complaints (patients or family members) and the doctors who were involved in the respective cases. More specifically, the data regarding the persons who filed the complaints concerned the following aspects: the socio-demographic characteristics of the patients (gender, age, residence area); the existence of multiple pathologies; if the patient died or not; the petitioner who filed the complaint (the patient or their family members); the number of days of hospitalization; the existence of multiple hospitalizations. The data about the doctors concerned: medical specialty, professional degree, and gender.

The analysis of the reasons underlying the complaints led to the identification of 15 categories, depending on the central, essential elements mentioned in the complaints. For identifying the categories of reasons, the authors used an inductive approach. All authors read the reasons as stated by the complainants multiple times, and to ensure rigor, they met several times to analyze them. In this way, the authors identified 15 categories related to aspects of the medical act itself or to the doctor–patient relationship and decided together on the inclusion of each reason in one of the established categories.
