Abramson, Brown & Dugan Attorneys

A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has concluded that doctors and healthcare providers who admit mistakes are not more likely to be the subject of medical malpractice lawsuits. 

"The openness and accompanying patient safety efforts may satisfy patients for whom litigation was formerly their only alternative," noted Allen Kachalia, MD, JD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston who collaborated with colleagues in the study.

The insurance industry often portrays medical malpractice lawsuits as the culprit for a broken healthcare system when in fact the system is broken in part due to the number of medical errors and an intransigent system that refuses to take responsibility for those errors. 

Perhaps this new study will usher in a new spirit of transparency and dedication to patient safety.