The 1999 Institute of Medicine Report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, highlighted the inadequacy of safeguards in the United States medical care system. According to the report, hospitals in the US kill between 44,000-98,000 citizens every year as a result of medical errors. Nearly 1 in 30 patients admitted to hospitals is injured by medical errors with about 10% of these being fatal. Medication errors alone contribute to 7,000 deaths annually at a cost of two billion dollars. The epidemic of medical errors cost the nation nearly $29 billion a year. The emotional burden of course is priceless. What role do health care providers, sworn to the moral principle of "do no harm," play in these preventable medical mistakes? Who are the other stakeholders and forces that contribute to these costly and often fatal errors? Why is there a code of silence when mistakes do occur in the care of patients? What are the moral principles to uphold if a medical error does result? This paper will provide an ethical framework for addressing the above and several other related questions. Moral principles such as beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, duty to protect, duty to warn, privacy and confidentiality will be addressed within the framework. Issues related to liability and concept of error as a sin and moral failing will be explored. Role of individuals and institutions in reducing and eliminating medical mistakes will be highlighted.
Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation, the participants should be able to: 1. identify the conflicts among different stakeholders in admitting and making public a medical error, 2. specify the moral principles that could be readily applied when a medical error occurs, and 3. indicate individual and institutional interventions that can help to prevent medical errors
Keywords: Bioethics, Medical Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.