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Medical error owning up to their pros and cons
Medical error owning up to their pros and cons
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To most of society, medical errors reflect poorly on a doctor. Many accuse the physician of being negligent and incompetent in the event of a medical error, but the truth is they are simply human. The stigmatization of medical errors is a result of the high, almost god-like, expectations society has placed upon physicians. In his book Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, Dr. Atul Gawande highlights several reasons doctors have trouble admitting their medical mistakes and why they shouldn’t. There are several reasons physicians fail to admit their mistakes, most of them revolve around their career reputations. One of the biggest barriers in admitting a medical mistake is the fear of a malpractice lawsuit. The …show more content…
As medicine becomes more commercialized, patient-physician relationships become less intimate and thus patients hold less sympathy for doctors who make mistakes. Having no emotional ties to their physician, patients are more likely to change doctors after they discover their current one has made a mistake. This is a problem for physicians as it is a loss for their business and ultimately their revenue. Because physicians want to keep a steady influx of patients and avoid malpractice they have equated mistakes to loss of business. “It’s almost impossible for a physician to talk to a patient honestly about mistakes because of the doctors fear they will lose patients” (Gawande 58) But, a 2006 study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found full disclosure of error reduces likelihood that patients will change physician and improves satisfaction, increases trust, and results in a generally positive response from the patient. By fully explaining why the error occurred and how the patient should have been treated, the doctor takes responsibility for the error, which many patients respect and appreciate. This appreciation can go a long way in the patient-physician relationship and in most cases, help the patient forgive his
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported in 1999 that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die each year in the United States due to a preventable medical error. A report written by the National Quality Forum (NQF) found that over a decade after the IOM report the prevalence of medical errors remains very high (2010). In fact a study done by the Hearst Corporation found that the number of deaths due to medical error and post surgical infections has increased since the IOM first highlighted the problem and recommended actions to reduce the number of events (Dyess, 2009).
Medical malpractice cases are difficult for the families who have lost their loved one or have suffered from severe injuries. No one truly wins in complicated court hearings that consist of a team of litigation attorneys for both the defendant and plaintiff(s). During the trial, evidence supporting malpractice allegations have to be presented so that the court can make a decision if the physician was negligent resulting in malpractice, or if the injury was unavoidable due to the circumstances. In these types of tort cases, the physician is usually a defendant on trial trying to prove that he or she is innocent of the medical error, delay of treatment or procedure that caused the injury. The perfect example of being at fault for medical malpractice as a result of delaying a procedure is the case of Waverly family versus John Hopkins Health System Corporation. The victims were not compensated enough for the loss of their child’s normal life. Pozgar (2012) explained….
I have been aware of medical errors for some time now. While in nursing school I have heard many stories from classmates and instructors of instances where people they knew, or loved ones had been either harmed or died because of a medical error. I have had experiences with medical errors. When I was in the hospital for the birth of my first child, the nurse that came to change out my IV bag did not check the
Any patient harmed by the provision of a healthcare service is informed of the fact and an appropriate remedy offered, regardless of whether a complaint has been made or question asked about it. This is how the term “candour” is defined by Robert Francis in his report (1). GMC defines the professional duty of candour as openness and honesty when things go wrong (2). This is applicable not only to patients but also to colleagues, employers and regulators. In a profession as stressful as medicine where doctors and other healthcare professionals are entrusted with the provision of care to people, it is vital for the care givers to be completely honest with their patients, especially when things wrong. It is not an easy task and doctors hesitate to do so due to a number of reasons such as the fact that doctors see themselves as solely benevolent and do not appreciate that they may be sources
Disclosure is an essential aspect of a medical professional and his or her patients’ relationships. In the 1950s, the medical client and professional relationship was one of paternalism as opposed to the now fiduciary relationship. Then a paternalistic professional took all of the responsibilities, disclosed what he then thought was necessary, and essentially told the patien...
Truth in medicine is a big discussion among many medical professionals about how doctors handle the truth. Truth to a patient can be presented in many ways and different doctors have different ways of handling it. Many often believe that patient’s being fully aware of their health; such as a bad diagnosis, could lead to depression compared to not knowing the diagnosis. In today’s society doctor’s are expected to deliver patient’s the whole truth in order for patients to actively make their own health decisions. Shelly K. Schwartz discusses the truth in her essay, Is It Ever Ok to Lie to Patients?. Schwartz argument is that patients should be told the truth about their health and presented and addressed in a way most comfortable to the patient.
This report explores Breaching Trust in Medicine and more specifically Doctor-Patient Confidentiality. We will discuss the parameters of confidentiality in medical practice, including how it is defined and why it is essential for the both the heath of the patient and the public health. We will evaluate how breaches of confidentiality are regulated, looking at particular cases as well as the circumstances where doctors can divulge patient information.
Everyone makes mistakes, so it is perfectly fine to admit to it. I feel that if you make a mistake and do not say anything, the consequence will be far worse then actually taking ownership of your actions and letting them know you have learned from it. Now this can be taken a step further. Who do you tell? Do you tell the physician, your manager, or the patient? The answer is everybody needs to know. Especially if it affects the patient. A simple mistake can greatly impact the patient by choosing not to disclose the event. Depending on the situation, it can even cost the patient their life. We also have to protect ourselves. Our license that we worked so hard to earn and maintain will be put in jeopardy. Our license holds great value and should not be put on the line due to ones pride. We should not be afraid to seek help in aiding us on when or how to reveal our mistake. We should also be humble enough to seek advise on how to fix or prevent a similar mistake from happening again in the
Mr. Anderson has a narrow focus; he continues to insist he needs more surgery. Mr. Anderson is very weak with large muscle atrophy. He walks using 2 canes refusing to use a walker which would be safer. He is a fall risk. He refuses to participate in physical therapy to strengthen and improve his muscle tone so he could walk safer and increase his endurance. He reports his pain level will not allow him to be active. He has an extremely high pain level consistently which never improves even with medical
Most medical errors come from human errors. Before defining medical error, we should have a good understanding of human error. As a human in our everyday life we are prone to make mistakes such as using ointment...
The preferred outcome after a mistake is made is for the physician and hospital to collaborate, and develop a solution that will eliminate the occurrence of the same mistake or negative outcome from happening again. An example of how collaboration among health professionals can promote positive patient outcomes is when there was a significantly low number of bypass surgery patients having a positive outcome. Unfortunately, the physicians did not willingly seek to change the surgical method until the mortality statistic were publicly available. However, it did encourage providers to collaborate, share data, and do site visits to other hospitals. Learning from other health professionals helped to continuously improve medical teaching
Medicalization is defined as the gradual social formation whereby medicine comes to exercise authority over areas of life that were not previously considered medical. Oftentimes, this means a process by which problems, viewed historically as simply socially deviant, become illnesses. Medicalization can occur with both mental issues, such as ADHD and grief, and physical issues, such as erectile dysfunction and fatness. One of the largest problems with medicalization is the construction of these diseases largely for the profit of the pharmaceutical industry. The gradual widening of medical categories to include more people, a concept known as diagnostic bracket creep, enables medical industries to profit off of those who are “sick.” When using
With populations and costs increasing every year, the medical field has taken on more challenges than ever before. Through time, technology has blossomed, education has been improved and hospitals have transformed into team establishments. However, with all great advances come struggle. More people have gotten sick, more diseases have been discovered and more errors have been made. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports approximately 7,000 deaths occur from hospital medication errors and almost 3 billion dollars a year goes toward fixing problems that could have been prevented. Mistakes are an inevitable part of life, yet in health care error can lead to death.
When we discuss about the honesty in medicine, there will be multitudinous facts regarding this topic. First things first. Honesty in medicine is a fundamental pillar as well as cornerstone of our profession as a doctor who works in medical field. Honesty plays a crucial role in the field of medicine. In medicine, we are often the one who deliver the brutal honesty to our patients. In order to relieve the fears and anxieties of the patients, should physicians choose not to tell the naked truth to them? This may seem uncomplicated but it is actually a ticklish question. Nearly one third of physicians do not agree that medical erroneousness or other predicaments should be disclosed to patients. Not telling the truth may has numerous purposes, take various forms and lead to many different consequences.
The health care is extremely important to society because without health care it would not be possible for individuals to remain healthy. The health care administers care, treats, and diagnoses millions of individual’s everyday from newborn to fatal illness patients. The health care consists of hospitals, outpatient care, doctors, employees, and nurses. Within the health care there are always changes occurring because of advance technology and without advance technology the health care would not be as successful as it is today. Technology has played a big role in the health care and will continue in the coming years with new methods and procedures of diagnosis and treatment to help safe lives of the American people. However, with plenty of advance technology the health care still manages to make an excessive amount of medical errors. Health care organizations face many issues and these issues have a negative impact on the health care system. There are different ways medical errors can occur within the health care. Medical errors are mistakes that are made by health care providers with no intention of harming patients. These errors rang from communication error, surgical error, manufacture error, diagnostic error, and wrong medication error. There are hundreds of thousands of patients that die every year due to medical error. With medical errors on the rise it has caused the United States to be the third leading cause of death. (Allen.M, 2013) Throughout the United States there are many issues the he...