Opinion: Medical Errors Hidden in PA

We've enjoyed the lively banter taking place in the Philadelphia Daily News, where the letters to the editor are getting heated.

It all started when a counter-punch was thrown after a doc talked of rising med-mal insurance rates—we covered it here. Now the head of the Pennsylvania trial Lawyers Association weighs in. Excerpt:

"Nationally, we know that as many as 98,000 people die annually because of a preventable medical error. But in Pennsylvania, these errors remain hidden from patients and the public.

But taking away the rights of someone who has been hurt by malpractice is the wrong answer to a serious problem. The best way to stop malpractice suits is to prevent malpractice." Read the rant here.

Any one think there is a third way between these sparring—and well-educated—factions?

Docs and lawyers: We demand you hash this sh$# out once and for all over some cheese steaks. Gino will moderate

Comments

[DBR]

From Physicians News Digest:

"The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority has earned national recognition as recipient of the 2006 John M. Eisenberg Award for advancing patient safety and quality in the Commonwealth.

Presented jointly by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the National Quality Forum (NQF), the award recognizes the Authority's efforts to make the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) into a nationally recognized resource for education and learning about patient safety. More than 385,000 reports have been submitted through PA-PSRS since the program was initiated in June 2004 – 96 percent of which are Incidents or "near-misses," while the Authority issues quarterly and supplementary Patient Safety Advisories based on those reports to advise hospitals and other health care facilities about steps they can take to reduce and prevent patient harm.
Patient Safety Authority, September 20, 2006"

Doesn't sound like errors are "hidden" in Pennsylvania to me.....kind of invalidates the whole rest of the "rant," doesn't it?

You can find out more on the Patient Safety Authority's website - and the new head of the Pa Trial Lawyers Association (are they going to change THEIR name to the PA Association for Justice to follow the lead of their national group?) should really check with former PaTLA President Cliff Reiders, who, on behalf of the PA Trial Lawyers supported passage of the bill which ESTABLISHED the Patient Safety Authority and which requires all physicians to report all lawsuits, and who SITS on the Patient Safety Authority....

NOTHING is hidden in PA any longer...well, except actions taken by the LAWYERS' professional review board....

DBR

[Matt]

Donna, the truth is your friend. Call the PA state bar and ask for a list of sanctions each month and I'll bet you'll get it. It's usually in the back of every state bar magazine.