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The Consequences of Truth

By John Ratkowitz
May 27, 2009

Many in the medical and legislative fields are discussing the advisability of laws that will shield medical professionals' explanations and apologies following medical errors from being admitted in court. Such laws, some say, would encourage open discussions between medical caregivers and their patients, possibly diffusing the anger that patients feel when they discover a medical mistake on their own. And when less angry, a patient is less likely to file a lawsuit or to refuse to settle a claim in a reasonable manner.

Few states, however, have instituted compulsory medical error admissions. William M. Sage et al., The Relational Regulatory Gap: A Pragmatic Information Policy For Patient Safety and Medical Malpractice, 59 Vand. L. Rev. 1263 (2006) (noting that four states recently passed legislation requiring patients to be informed when they were the victim of medical errors). One state that has is New Jersey, which, in 2004, enacted the Patient Safety Act, N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.23 (PSA). This landmark legislation changed the way medical errors are dealt with in New Jersey by creating a legal duty to immediately disclose medical errors to patients who are harmed by them. N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.25.

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