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This article appeared in our Detroit newspaper last week, and I thought it was interesting. It's amazing to me that people are so litigious that we have to resort to legislation like this! 8O
Some doctors fear that saying "I'm sorry" to families of patients can end up costing them millions of dollars.
State Rep. Joe Hune, R-Handy Township, wants doctors to feel free to utter those compassionate words. He's proposing a bill that would allow doctors to apologize without fear their words will be used as an admission of wrongdoing by families of patients who had operations that didn't go as planned.
"Saying 'I'm sorry' should be a natural, caring response in a time of personal tragedy -- not an indictment," Hune said.
Some doctors fear that expressing remorse or sympathy to families puts them in jeopardy of malpractice lawsuits, said Dr. Michael Sandler, a diagnostic radiologist at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and chairman of the Michigan State Medical Society.
"The action of a physician apologizing without liability will go a long way to soothe feelings and heal an unpleasant and difficult situation for a family," Sandler said.
State Rep. Joe Hune, R-Handy Township, wants doctors to feel free to utter those compassionate words. He's proposing a bill that would allow doctors to apologize without fear their words will be used as an admission of wrongdoing by families of patients who had operations that didn't go as planned.
"Saying 'I'm sorry' should be a natural, caring response in a time of personal tragedy -- not an indictment," Hune said.
Some doctors fear that expressing remorse or sympathy to families puts them in jeopardy of malpractice lawsuits, said Dr. Michael Sandler, a diagnostic radiologist at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and chairman of the Michigan State Medical Society.
"The action of a physician apologizing without liability will go a long way to soothe feelings and heal an unpleasant and difficult situation for a family," Sandler said.
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