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Peer-reviewed article

When a Surgical Colleague Makes an Error.

Professionalism requires that doctors acknowledge their errors and figure out how to avoid making similar ones in the future. Over the last few decades, doctors have gotten better at acknowledging mistakes and apologizing to patients when…

By John D. LantosJanuary 1, 20161 min readin Pediatrics

Professionalism requires that doctors acknowledge their errors and figure out how to avoid making similar ones in the future. Over the last few decades, doctors have gotten better at acknowledging mistakes and apologizing to patients when a mistake happens. Such disclosure is especially complicated when one becomes aware of an error made by a colleague. We present a case in which consultant surgeons became aware that a colleague seemed to have made a serious error. Experts in surgery and bioethics comment on appropriate responses to this situation.

Originally published at Pediatrics · January 1, 2016.

About the author

John D. Lantos is a pediatrician and bioethicist writing on AI in medicine, neonatal intensive care, and end-of-life decisions. His essays appear in JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, the Hastings Center Report, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Aeon. Read more about John.

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