Disclosing Harmful Medical Errors to Patients
Abstract
Historically, fear of malpractice litigation made clinicians cautious about informing patients when they made mistakes in their care. This article reviews recent efforts by regulators, hospitals, accreditation organizations, and legislators to encourage and facilitate discussions between health care providers and patients when patients are harmed by medical errors.
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In contrast to the US, full disclosure to the patient is highly variable in other countries.
“In contrast to the US, full disclosure to the patient is highly variable in other countries [23].”
From Principles of Clinical Ethics and Their Application to Practice (2021) · cites this paper as [23]
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Principles of Clinical Ethics and Their Application to Practice
Varkey, B. (2021) · Medical Principles and Practice · doi:10.1159/000509119 · Cited by 1,171 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gallagher, T. H., Studdert, D., & Levinson, W.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Venue
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Publisher
- Massachusetts Medical Society
- Published
- 2007-06-28
- Volume
- 356
- Issue
- 26
- Pages
- 2713-2719
- ISSN
- 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-4406
- OpenAlex
- W2160313766
- Cited by
- 405
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 48.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (1k08hs014012-01)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Patient Safety and Medication Errors
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills
- Keywords
- medical errors, patient disclosure, patient safety, medical malpractice litigation, physician-patient communication, health care regulation, hospital accreditation, patient harm
- MeSH terms
- Communication, Humans, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Jurisprudence, Truth Disclosure, United States, Medical Errors, Disclosure
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