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Not “Gods in White”: German Doctors’ Group Confesses to Mistakes
Surgical scissors left in stomachs, operations on the wrong knee, prescriptions of uppers instead of downers — medical error is not just the stuff of fiction. Now a group of German doctors has decided to break a taboo and talk openly about their slip-ups.
| The myth of the doctor who will make everything better is not just popular with patients but also useful for doctors. Now, for the first time, a group of German doctors wants to dispel it. The German Coalition for Patient Safety, a non-profit association of health care professionals, institutions and patient organizations, has published a brochure that explains the frequency and range of medical malpractice in Germany.”Learning from Mistakes” is the not-so-reassuring title of the pamphlet presented at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday.
Coalition chairman Matthias Schrappe said, “It’s just a little brochure, but it represents a large step for the medical profession.” Seventeen members of the coalition describe errors they’ve made on the job, ranging from late diagnoses of cancer to operations on the wrong knee. They claim such mistakes are most likely to occur early in careers or under time pressure. |
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The brochure estimates about 100 incidents of serious malpractice occur in Germany each year. It admits that 5 to 10 percent of hospital patients leave hospital with “unwanted results,” stemming not from the original problem but its treatment. Most of these take the form of infections picked up in hospital, which happens at a rate of roughly 500,000 a year. Incorrect prescriptions are the second-most-common problem; Read more »
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