['A case of decapitation'; calamity investigation in 1822].

A case of childbirth with a fatal outcome described in the book 'The King's Court Physician: the Adventurous Life of Franz Joseph Harbaur, 1776-1822' (De lijfarts van de koning. Het avontuurlijkeleven van Franz Joseph Harbaur, 1776-1822) puts the work of the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate into an historical context by pointing out the similarities between a calamity investigation held in 1822 and the situation today. Conflicts between medical disciplinary law and criminal law, boundary disputes between various professions (in this particular case midwives and gynaecologists) and questions of openness and transparency turn out to be nothing new. By doing case studies on how to deal with calamities, it is possible to gain insight into medical failures of the past and how they were managed. It is also possible to get a better picture of the expectations that medicine had to meet in the past, and how, and under what circumstances, these have changed. This information is of value in making choices in today's healthcare system.