Tragedy and torts: Bankrupting medicine not the answer

AMA Leader Commentary. By Yank D. Coble Jr., MD. March 17, 2003.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from AMA President Yank D. Coble Jr., MD.

The events of February took me and many other physicians from the heights of triumph because of the Medicare win in Congress to the depths of tragedy with the news about the young woman whose heart and lung transplant was compromised because of a blood mismatch.

As a graduate of Duke University Medical School, I felt strongly the agony of the staff at Duke University Medical Center, as the news came out that a tragic error had occurred when skilled physicians transplanted a heart and lungs into a teenage girl whose blood type didn't match the donor's. I'm sure I was not alone.

Doctors everywhere empathized with the situation, understanding how devastated the medical staff must feel, attempting to save the girl's life, but having their work undermined by an ineffective system.

The AMA -- and the National Patient Safety Foundation it founded in 1996 -- believes that even one preventable medical error that harms a patient is one error too many. But we also acknowledge that we are human, and thus errors are made.

The Institute of Medicine report, "To Err is Human," acknowledges that reality. True safety can come about only in an environment where errors can be identified and studied openly, so we can implement safeguards to prevent them.

That's why we are supporting the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (HR 663), introduced in Congress by Reps. Billy Tauzin (R, La.) and John Dingell (D, Mich.), which would allow voluntary, confidential reporting of medical errors. It would facilitate gathering information in a nonpunitive manner, having it reviewed by experts and then giving feedback to those involved, sharing the lessons learned and the system fixes with everyone.