Personal Injury Law

Why are medical errors kept secret?

By Hurley, McKenna & Mertz

Before you check into a Chicago hospital wouldn't it be nice to see some statistics on medical errors. That information is available but not to the public. Why not? My guess is it has to do with money. Hospitals with bad safety records are afraid to lose patients and revenue if their safety records became public. I say let the consumer decide based on fair access to information. Consider this story from the Seattle Times:

?Over the past year, hospitals in Washington left ?foreign objects? in 36 surgery patients. And 21 people got surgery on the wrong body parts. Hospitals have reported such ?adverse events? to the state Department of Health since 2000, also including performing surgery on the wrong patient, and medication errors that can kill or seriously harm patients. But now the Washington State Hospital Association says it doesn't want the public to know which hospitals made the mistakes. It contends that a bill passed last year forbids release of such records, and the association has gotten the state to halt disclosure. At least one state lawmaker is vowing to fight back.?

Carol M. Ostrom, Seattle Times, 10-23-07

Full post as published by Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog on October 27, 2007 (boomark / email).