“Doctors are going to make mistakes just like lawyers make mistakes. It happens.”
“That’s the human side of doing things we do. The sad thing is that people don’t believe that doctors should be allowed to make mistakes. Doctors are people too,” says a pediatrician in Arizona. You all know that I agree with that statement.
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{ 6 comments }
Kevin,
When lawyers make mistakes, people lose money. When doctors make mistakes, they lose lives. There is a huge difference here. I hope you never have to learn the hard way. You would feel differently…I KNOW.
But alas, the doctor remains human…so lives will be lost. NO ONE is perfect, NO DOCTOR is perfect and mistakes will always be made. What we need is a system that tries to reduce the mistakes being made and not one that is always trying to blame someone. There will always be bad outcomes. As we say in surgery, if you’ve never had to return a patient to the OR for post op bleeding, then you haven’t operated on enough people yet.
But alas, the patient gains insight. The doctor is human and makes mistakes, this is true. The arrogance of the profession will soon be altered, however. It will become apparent that patients will not treat you like gods any longer and you will be held accountable for errors just as all “humans” are. It is not about blame. It is about integrity and looking at your “human” self in the mirror in the morning. Your statement,”the doctor remains human…so lives will be lost”….is quite chilling. A suggested reading: “Medical Errors and Medical Narcissism” by Banja.
I’d rather have lots of imperfect doctors than no doctors. And it is true that doctors, like everyone, should admit when they have made a mistake, but maybe they don’t because we pratically send a lynch mob after them. ONe mistake admitted and goodbye career. That would be the fault of our sue-happy society.
Why is anyone talking about perfection? Perfection is not now, nor has it ever been, the standard in a medical malpractice case. The standard is based on negligence, usually defined further as a reasonable standard of care given the area. In other words, you don’t get to claim you’re entitled to NYC treatment in rural West Virginia. This “perfection” cry is just a deflection meant to inflame, with no real basis in fact.
What’s more, it’s clear that juries don’t require perfection, considering the physician wins 2 out of 4 times. And the vast majority of physicians have never been sued. What’s more, a lawsuit, even a successful one, is not “goodbye career.” There are many physicians with multiple judgments who have never been disciplined by their state boards and are still practicing today.
And Dot Bar, you’d do well to check the facts as well. Personal injury and tort filings, when adjusted for inflation, are down 8% since 1975. And have been dropping in real numbers since 1996.
The only suits in our “sue happy” society that are increasing are businesses suing businesses. But no one is proposing to limit those.
But hey, don’t let the facts get in the way.
I mistyped. Doctors win 3 out of 4 times at trial.
So can we please stop the “We shouldn’t have to be perfect” cry? It’s clear neither the public, or the law, requires that.
Has America’s highest paid profession ever been so whiny before?
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