Tort lawsuits are nowadays, a reality for those in the profession. In emergency situations, such as in cases of acute appendicitis, the unfavorable evolution of the ailment is often associated with medical error by the patient who seeks indemnity for actual damages in courts, and they can be moral, material or even aesthetics. Given the frequency of acute appendicitis – about 4% of abdominal pain observed in Brazilian emergency services – the aim of this paper is to analyze the profile of judgments involving cases of liability of physicians as a result of conducts involved in the treatments. Twenty judgments were retrieved through the website of the Court of Justice of São Paulo using the terms “medical error” and “acute appendicitis”, considering lawsuits judged in 2013. In 95% of cases, the trial was in private Law chamber; being 40% from the capital and 35% from the countryside. In most cases, the lawsuits were pled against the doctor, hospital and health insurance (60%), for medical error caused by malpractice, recklessness or negligence. 40% of cases were dismissed for there was no nexus proven between the act and the damage caused. As for the damage, in about 70% compensation was requested for moral, material and aesthetic damage simultaneously. In 75% of cases, the expert report was decisive to the sentencing. The ailment progresses satisfactorily in most cases (80%) without physical and functional sequels, with death in 20% of cases. The doctrine in the area was mentioned in 65% of the judgments.
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