POINT: Surgeons have a duty to tell patients when a medical error has been made by a physician colleague.
Surgeons have a moral and ethical obligation to inform a patient when a medical error has occurred, including cases when the error was made by another surgeon.
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Principles that support complete and honest disclosure to the patient and/or the patient’s family in such cases include professional obligation on the part of both the surgeon who made the error and the surgeon who discovered the error, the integrity of both surgeons, the patient’s right to informed care throughout the continuum of care, and the patient’s right to informed consent.
With respect to the first, the American Medical Association’s code of ethics provides a framework for disclosure; it clearly states that situations occur in which a patient experiences significant complications that may have resulted from a physician’s mistake or judgment and that the physician is ethically required to inform the patient of all facts necessary to ensure understanding of the error that occurred.
The American College of Physicians’ ethics manual also states that physicians should disclose to patients information about procedural or judgment errors made during the course of care, as long as that information is pertinent and material to the patient’s well-being.
Errors do not necessarily imply negligence or unethical behavior, but failure to disclose may.
As for patients’ rights, I think that patients are entitled to honest information. They shouldn’t bear the burden of determining how they came to be in another surgeon’s care.
Patients with complications may have impactful financial burdens that result from the additional treatment that is needed, and without all pertinent information, they may have difficulty understanding the benefits, such as deferment of payments, to which they are entitled.
Dr. Susan D. Moffatt-Bruce
The patient must also be kept informed as to the long-term care plan, and honest and timely disclosure will facilitate moving beyond blame and toward patient advocacy.
The patient is entitled to informed consent, and this requires an understanding of the conditions under which they arrived in another surgeon’s care. If a second procedure is required, the patient must be made aware of potential complications – including how the effects of the initial error might impact outcomes.
Although surgeons have an ethical obligation to disclose errors made by another surgeon, this is admittedly a difficult task. Pressures from society and medical professionals can make disclosure difficult, but the benefits of disclosure are very real; studies show that open, honest communication improves patient satisfaction, strengthens the physician-patient relationship, and can ultimately improve outcomes.
Disclosure also has the potential to improve the well-being of the surgeons involved, through relieving feelings of guilt, and satisfying the need to fulfill one’s obligations. Furthermore, data suggest that error disclosure reduces long-term litigation and costs. Admittedly, however, there are little data on how disclosure of another surgeon’s errors ultimately reduces litigation and costs.
Ultimately, supporting a just culture allows us to emphasize the importance of disclosing errors and to be accountable in setting a standard that involves exploring errors rather than ignoring them; it must be remembered, though, that this process of disclosure involves obtaining facts to help both surgeons and patients understand what truly happened.
Surgeon-to-surgeon discussions can be productive and can facilitate disclosure. However, if the doctor who made the error declines to be part of the disclosure process, one still has an obligation to disclose the error and to answer the patient’s questions honestly.
This approach requires a commitment to support surgeons in their efforts to promote transparency, and it requires a clear understanding of our obligations and the role of disclosure during training; we need to engage medical students and residents in the very important role of health care advocacy.
Dr. Bruce is an associate professor at the Ohio State University, Columbus.
COUNTERPOINT: Surgeons are not required to inform a patient of another physician’s possible error.
Surgeons do not have an obligation to disclose to a patient another surgeon’s possible medical error.
A consensus has been reached in medicine about our ethical duty to inform patients about our own medical errors. Although nondisclosure has previously been rationalized by concerns about invoking anxiety or confusion in the patient, this approach has largely been discredited; disclosure preserves patient trust and bolsters the physician-patient relationship.
However, it is an entirely different story when it comes to disclosing another surgeon’s mistake – a situation that is quite common. A recent survey showed that two-thirds of respondents had encountered a similar dilemma in the past 6 months (Qual. Saf. Health Care 2009;18:209-12).