Doctors frequently fail to report errors committed by colleagues.  Medical ethics are fairly clear that a physician is obligated to tell the patient if she has made a mistake, but it is less clear what a doctor’s ethical obligation may be in regards to a colleague.  A new report in the New England Journal of Medicine describes how doctors failing to report colleagues’ mistakes is a common problem.  Physicians who point out mistakes could lose referrals, or may be wary of becoming entangled in a medical malpractice case.  According to the report, there appears to be a culture of silence among doctors.

The larger issue is that physicians, too often, are not learning from their mistakes.   Certain hospital systems, like MedStar in Maryland, are tackling the problem head-on by requiring doctors to report mistakes made by colleagues, regardless of whether it affected a patient outcome.  Each month, MedStar (which operates 10 hospitals) notes about 1,400 reported safety events, with most being categorized as “near misses” that do not affect patients.

Read more at ProPublica.